TN govt to introduce dedicated curriculum for physical education in state-run schools

CHENNAI: To encourage students to indulge in sports and participate in high-level competitions, the Tamil Nadu government is gearing up to introduce a separate physical education curriculum in all state-run schools.

Physical education (PE) is an extracurricular activity in government and aided schools for students of classes 1 to 12. However, under the Central Board of Secondary Education, physical education is a separate subject, and its syllabus is updated annually per requirement.

Taking cues from its counterpart at the Centre, the State will adopt a separate curriculum for PE in government schools in the upcoming academic year, a senior School Education department official told DT Next.

Currently, more than 44 lakh students are spread across over 37,400 government schools in TN. Schools with more than 600 students have physical education trainers, but there is no uniformity in coaching as there is no concrete separate curriculum, the official explained.

The State, accepting the requests of sportspersons and other stakeholders, has formed three committees comprising experts and academicians to draft a PE curriculum. "The panels also visited several states which have separate syllabi for physical education to collect information," he added.

The course structure will differ for every class so that all students benefit. "A comprehensive textbook will also be published to meet all the physical education needs of the children," he said, adding, "The number of hours to be allocated for physical education class will also be derived."

The syllabus will be a balance of instructional and developmental aspects, along with proper rules for designing, implementing, and evaluating physical activities to provide consistent and uniform content across all government schools in the state.