Conduct compulsory physical education lessons for classes VI-XII students: TN school education department

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu school education department has asked chief and district education officers to ensure that physical education (PE) classes for classes VI and XII are conducted without fail and sought details of schools where playgrounds are not utilized to their potential.

The instructions come in the wake of a recent review meeting chaired by school education secretary B Chandra Mohan. Further, officials have been instructed to ensure that schools hold special coaching classes for students interested in sports and games, a release said.

The department has also asked district PE inspectors to provide CEOs with details of schools that have achieved distinction at state and national level sports contests. "While classes VI-XII do have PE classes, there are instances where a different subject teacher takes over the class. The department does not encourage such activities," an official from the school education department said.

Physical education directors and teachers in the respective schools have been told to follow the "prescribed curriculum" while training students. Last year, the department released a PE guidebook for teachers, designed in line with the curriculum. However, PE teachers across the state are yet to get hard copies of the book.

PE associations have welcomed the move, but they say that several gaps must be plugged to effectively implement the vision. "There are no PE teacher posts in about 9,000 middle schools. In addition, more than 500 high schools do not have PE teachers and more than 3,500 schools do not have physical director grade-I posts," S Sankaraperumal, president, Tamil Nadu Physical Education Teachers and Physical Directors Association, told TOI.

He further said that there were 2,900 high and higher secondary schools where posts were created, but recruitment hadn't happened. "The govt must first fill the vacancies and then make plans," he added.