A rather serious query posted by a distraught father seeking pointers for institutions offering IIT coaching, to augment the educational pursuits of his ward studying fifth grade, evinced an exhaustive list of answers from the user community of a popular question-and-answer website! While some urged the parent to refrain from burdening the kid during his formative years, others, surprisingly, ended up offering serious advice on the institutes offering such training. The trolling that followed in the answers section, listed under the tags “parenting advice”, “JEE coaching institutes’ and “madness”, highlighted the frustration of certain sections of people. A user even mocked the question saying the boy was too late for IIT, as several others began coaching from kindergarten itself and for the AIIMS from the previous birth!
Though such queries reinforce the notion of parents emphasising on marks and ranks, experts opine that such a situation, which prevailed for nearly two decades, seems to be slowly fading into oblivion. Tennis legend Ramanathan Krishnan, who visited the temple city a few months ago, outlined this particular shift in the mindset of parents. “This has been a welcome change! Many parents are finding a balance between both academics and sports/ extracurricular activities, with greater emphasis on the latter. Now, there is more awareness among people and sporting avenues are opening up," he told The Hindu .
Risk of “Childhood Obesity” forcing parents to send their children to playgrounds?
Acknowledging this change in trend, a few members of the medical community have pointed out to another important issue, which they opined was directly/indirectly responsible for the shift. The risk of “childhood obesity”, a seemingly alarming problem across the country, has prompted several parents to send their children to playgrounds, either for an hour everyday or during the weekends. Right from the beginning of summer vacations, parents will be making a beeline to summer sports camps, not only to ensure physical activity of their wards but also to enable them to learn a sport. In this regard, the district administration has announced to conduct nearly 50 camps from April 24 to May 24, focusing on traditional and modern sports. “We have already called for applications from individuals and sports associations across various disciplines to conduct the camps. The final decision will be taken after detailed scrutiny and approvals from officials,” said S. Lakshmi, SETVEN CEO - District Youth Welfare and Sports Officer.
Ms. Lakshmi told The Hindu that the State government’s comprehensive sports policy had enabled the sanctioning of two training camps under “day boarder scheme” for hockey and taekwondo at Chandragiri and Chittoor respectively, whereas training in aquatics, under the “nursery scheme”, would be imparted to children between 4-8 years in Tirupati. The officials are also focusing on developing mini stadiums — NTR Kreeda Vikas Kendras — not only to develop young sports persons but also encourage the adults to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Tirupati enjoys a unique distinction
The temple city is known to host a wide-range of camps concentrating on regular and unique fields. The Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (RSVP) has for the past few days been conducting free classes on “Spoken Sanskrit” and the Bhagavad Gita, whereas the Regional Science Centre - Tirupati (RSCT) is known to host summer camps, annually, themed on various topics related to science. The Srinivasa Sports Complex near the S.V. Arts College will be hosting special sports summer camps on skating, tennis, badminton etc., alongside several private players across the city.
The presence of the S.V. College of Music and Dance and experts in the field has expanded the scope for youngsters learning traditional artforms and musical instruments (even western). On the other hand, several institutes are offering skill training for engineering students, be it projects or computer courses. Except for the students who have completed their tenth and Intermediate examinations, others have a fair chance to learn something during the vacations. While some parents agree to the wishes of their children in selecting a summer camps, others have admitted to coercing the latter, knowingly or unknowingly, to fulfil their dreams.
