Government primary and secondary schools in Karnataka will soon witness yoga and aerobics at least for the first 15 minutes in the morning every day.
To keep children at government schools fit, the state Department of Primary and Secondary Education has decided to introduce yoga and aerobics during the morning assembly and the modalities for the same will be finalised soon.
Confirming this, N Mahesh, Primary and Secondary Education Minister said, "To involve kids in activities like sports and culture and to keep them fit, we have decided to introduce yoga and aerobics every day."
The minister said that this is being discussed with senior officials of the department and soon an official order will be issued. "Even the Chief Minister supports these initiatives, and basically the introduction of yoga and aerobics is the idea of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy," mentioned Mahesh.
Meanwhile, the minister said that the process of hiring teachers to teach yoga and aerobics will be completed soon. He spoke after convening a meeting with department officials in Bengaluru on Monday.
However, along with yoga and aerobics, the department has also decided to introduce dance classes for the kids. They will be taught various forms of dance including Kathak and other classical dance forms.
The decision to introduce yoga and aerobics has received objections from physical education teachers in the state. "The department has not filled posts of physical education for the last 15 years in state government schools. When there is a shortage of instructors already, how can they introduce new courses?" asked Basavraju, president, Karnataka Physical Education Teachers Association.
As per the data available from the Department of Public Instruction, there are over 4,000 physical education instructors in government schools. "There should be at least one instructor for every 60 students, but currently the ratio is one for 200 and even in place of physical education teacher, the government is recruiting general teachers," said Basavraju.
The association members warned the department of staging an agitation if they hire teachers on a contract basis instead of filling the vacant posts. "We are submitting requests to concerned authorities to fill the vacancies, but our request is not being taken into consideration. If this continues, we will be forced to stage an agitation," he added.
