New CBSE curriculum will make grades in sports mandatory, says Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju

Just because he is the sports minister he doesn't want to impose strict laws to compel youngsters to take up sports
Kiren Rijiju tries his hand at hockey at the new Astro Turf at the CSS (Pic: Rakesh Kumar/EDEX)
Kiren Rijiju tries his hand at hockey at the new Astro Turf at the CSS (Pic: Rakesh Kumar/EDEX)

Union Minister of State for Sports, Kiren Rijiju, on Tuesday said that the CBSE is preparing a new curriculum under which sports will be given more emphasis and this will reflect on the students' report cards. The minister was inaugurating the Sri NPV Ramaswamy Udayar Hockey Centre at the Centre for Sports Sciences of the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research in Porur, Chennai.

Rijiju said that there are more than 14,000 boys and girls under the Khelo India scheme. "We are expanding exponentially. Sports is not extra curricular anymore. It is part of the syllabus now. The CBSE is preparing a new curriculum under which sports will be given more emphasis. This will decide how you are marked," said the minister. 

The 47-year-old minister met with the sports persons at the facility and inspected the astro turf for the hockey centre that he inaugurated along with the other facilities at the CSS. "I have been planning to visit for the past three months and I am privileged by this visit. This institute has come up as a true centre of excellence for not just sports but other disciplines as well. This institute has come to such a level that we will get future Olympians for sure," he added. "When I took over the ministry I had planned that we need to do something to honour the sportspersons of the country. We need to change how people look at sports," said the minister. 

But just because he is the sports minister he doesn't want to impose strict laws to compel youngsters to take up sports. "My decisions need to be inclusive. I am not here to tell you what to do but to help you do what Indian sports needs. The people on the ground should decide what the athletes need. Not the ministry. We are a country of billions and we got only two medals in the Rio Olympics," he said. "By 2028 India must be in the top ten medalists of the world. We will make an India house in Tokyo for the coming Olympics so that our players and athletes do not face any problems be it food or getting slots to practice," promised Rijiju. 

Rijiju also had a sporty solution for unemployment. "I would request firms across India to set aside a chunk of jobs for sportspersons. At anytime if some sportsperson needs financial support my office will provide it," he said.

Former India hockey captain V Baskaran, who is the director of the “Trucoach CSS-Baskaran Centre for Hockey” was also present. Baskaran, who led the team to a gold medal in the 1980 Moscow Olympics expressed happiness that the new turf ground was inaugurated at CSS. "I am very happy that CSS of Sri Ramachandra University will have a new FIH standard AstroTurf for Hockey. It is the first of its kind for a university to have such a world class facility. It will help the players, both Indian and foreign, to a great extent," he said.

Chancellor of SRIHER, R Venkataachalam, said he is delighted to see the new hockey ground coming to a reality and added that it will benefit hockey players a lot. Dr Arumugam S, Director of the Centre for Sports science said the state of the art sports science facilities and expertise at CSS would complement the world class Hockey centre.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
EdexLive
www.edexlive.com