The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Physical Education to be core subject from this academic year

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Sunday, Jun 01, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Physical Education to be core subject from this academic year

Special Correspondent

Students will have to take theory and practical examinations

Bangalore: Physical Education will be one of the core subjects in all primary and secondary classes from this academic year, complete with theory and practical examination. Only SSLC students would be exempted from taking an examination on the subject.

However, the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) is slightly behind schedule in its preparedness for implementing the decision. The department is yet to complete the process of preparing textbooks for Physical Education.

“The syllabus has been approved and circulated. Teaching will start based on that. The textbooks are being prepared,” said M.N. Baig, Director of DSERT.

The decision to give extra thrust on Physical Education comes in the wake of a recommendation by the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, which said that the subject should be “considered on a par with any other curriculum subjects, since it is important for the overall development of the child.” It emphasises that the time allocated for Physical Education “must not be reduced of taken away under any circumstance.”

The framework also made specific recommendations on appointment of teaching staff: “The number of teachers in Physical Education should be proportionate to the number of students and these teachers should be fully on a par with other regular subject teachers.”

These guidelines were further corroborated by the L.R. Vaidyanathan Physical Education Experts Committee set up in 2006 by the then Primary Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti to prepare a Physical Education Policy for Karnataka.

The committee had recommended that Physical Education be made a core subject with full-time teachers appointed to teach it. It had said that extra teachers should be appointed in schools where the number of students exceeded 500.

It had recommended that yoga should be part of the Physical Education curriculum.

The committee had said that the examination be split into two parts, with 40 marks for theory and 60 for practicals, a pattern that will be followed in the examination now.

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