Sambalpur: Students in 45 per cent government schools have to study in classrooms during the ‘game’ period in their daily curriculum as these schools don’t have a playground for students to engage them in any kind of physical activity, a report said.
However, all these schools have exclusive physical education teachers to teach students physical activities and discipline, it was learnt.
This could be the single largest reason why Sambalpur district lags behind in sports in the state as many talented kids don’t get the opportunity to practice, said experts.
While nearly half of the schools in the district don’t have their own playgrounds, others are either in miserable state or in the clutches of antisocial elements. Though both the state and Centre put emphasis to curb school dropout rate, sports doesn’t get the attention it deserves, experts added.
According to reports, apart from Veer Surendra Sai stadium and a couple of other places, there is no proper infrastructure in place for sports persons of the district to hone their skills. These stadiums are also often booked for state-level competitions where the sportsmen of this district invariably fail to score.
Though Right to Education Act of 2009 had made it mandatory for all the schools to have their own playgrounds, it is yet to be implemented by several schools.
Sarva Sikhya Abhiyan (SSA) office sources reveal of the 1,306 primary schools in the district, only 276 have playgrounds. While 695 schools have no playgrounds at all, land identification process for play grounds is in progress for 335 schools.
Though sport is essential for physical and mental growth of students, many students are deprived of it in the absence of playgrounds in their schools, some PETs said. While kids suffer from various diseases due to lack of physical activities, the district also fail to produce promising players at school level, they added.
Crores of rupees sanctioned by the Centre are lying unutilised in the absence of playgrounds, it was learnt.
When contacted, SSA’s district coordinator Kalpana Panda said tehsildars across the district were asked to identify land to be used as playgrounds of various schools but the job is yet to be completed. “We are taking measures in this direction and hopefully it would be completed in coming days,” she added.
The physical education inspector posted at the office of district education officer couldn’t be contacted over the issue. PNN
