Cuttack: Here’s a piece of good news for budding sportspersons in Odisha. The state government has decided to open special schools on the premises of 16 sports hostels from the 2020-21 academic year.
The hostel inmates can now pursue their studies within the campus, enabling them to appear for Class X and Class XII examinations like regular students.
According to government sources, the initiative is aimed to encourage sportspersons in the state to pursue higher studies.
“The Odisha government is giving importance to the overall development of sportspersons. Along with sports, young athletes should also focus on their academic development. That is why the government has decided to provide school facilities on the premises of sports hostels,” an official source said.
According to the official, a permanent teacher from the nearest school to a sports hostel will take charge of the special school. If necessary, the School and Mass Education Department may also appoint retired teachers to run these special schools.
Besides regular subjects, music, dance, and painting classes will also be included in the course curriculum of these special schools, the official informed.
To operate these schools, a team consisting of the officials of the School and Mass Education Department and Sports & Youth Services Department will be formed soon.
Likewise, the government is planning to add ‘physical education’ as a subject in the regular school syllabus.
In a recent letter, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had instructed to add a minimum of one hour of ‘physical education’ class in the school curriculum.
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