Physical education and sports will become a part of the school curriculum in the State from next year onwards, Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman told the Assembly on Tuesday.
Meetings have been held with the Education Minister regarding this. Currently, a 30 minute-long sports-oriented programme is being telecast through the KITE education channel. Steps are being taken to promote sports aptitude among students from the pre-primary level onwards. He said that there was a shortage of sports teachers in schools.
Swimming coaching is currently being provided through six district academies. Some of the MLAs raised the issue of most of the swimming coaches being concentrated in Thiruvananthapuram, depriving training to aspiring swimmers from other districts.
The Minister said that swimming coaching would be extended to all districts. In addition to the existing swimming pools, old ponds in villages will be cleaned up and revived, to be used for swimming coaching. Volunteers and resource persons will be used for training, in view of the shortage of coaches.
Certificates for sports persons to be used for various quotas will henceforth be issued only online by the Sports Council. The various sports associations will have to send their recommendations to the Sports Council, which will be the final issuing authority.
Mr. Abdurahiman said the Government had issued strict instructions to control the use of stadiums under the Sports Department for other purposes. For organising non-sports events in stadiums, application will have to be submitted 21 days prior to the event. Only the area excluding the track can be provided. No stadium can be provided for more than 24 hours. Action will be taken against the officials concerned if the synthetic track of turf are damaged. The newly formed Sports Kerala Foundation will take care of the upkeep of stadiums.
He said that steps had been taken to start sports councils in all panchayats. At least one ground would be ensured in all panchayats. An MoU had been signed with the All India Football Federation to take up football training in all panchayats. As per current estimates, there were around 950 private turfs in the State, in addition to several private football academies. Programmes would be planned to involve these facilities too for various training purposes.
