Coming soon: Skilling and training in football for all school students, both boys and girls! The Ministry of Education (MoE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) and AIFF (All India Football Federation) for the Football4Schools initiative in India.

The MoU was signed by Union Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on behalf of the MoE on Sunday, October 30, at an event in Mumbai. The initiative aims to empower the students with valuable life skills and competencies. It also aspires to create coach-educators with good training to deliver sports and life-skills activities, as per a report by ANI.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Pradhan said, "Sports has been given a place of pride in NEP 2020 and the Football4Schools programme espouses the spirit of NEP 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid emphasis on mainstreaming sports with education and the Football4Schools programme is a step towards translating PM Modi's vision of making sports a way of life as well as creating well-rounded citizens."

Pradhan expressed his happiness that FIFA, AIFF and the Ministry of Education were collaborating to promote football and also to equip young learners with valuable life skills on the sidelines of the U-17 Women's World Cup through this initiative. Pradhan added that the Football4Schools programme aims to empower 25 million young boys and girls in India through sports-integrated learning, as per ANI.

He further said that football is an immensely popular sport and the Football4Schools initiative uses it as a positive tool to inspire children and ensure their holistic development. "It will build the capacity of stakeholders (schools, member associations and public authorities) to deliver training in life skills through football and strengthen the cooperation between governments and participating schools to enable partnerships, alliances and intersectoral collaboration," the Minister added.