THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Principals and teachers of 10 Kendriya Vidyalayas in and around the capital put their fitness levels to test on Tuesday. The occasion was a cluster-level training for teachers ahead of the rollout of ‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ (Healthy Children, Healthy Nation) programme in schools.
The programme is being implemented by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) in consonance with the the UNESCO charter which advocates the development of physical , intellectual and moral powers through physical education and sport.
The training programme for teachers, held at KVS, Akkulam, was inaugurated by G Kishore, principal, LNCPE, Karyavattom and chairman , Committee for Selection Criteria, SAI and Deepthi S Nair, Assistant Commissioner, KVS Regional Office, Ernakulam delivered the keynote address.
She said the primary objective of the mission was to create awareness of health and fitness in every child across the length and breadth of the nation. It also serves the objective of identifying sports talents at a very young age. It puts forward a balanced education framework consisting of academic education inside the classroom and physical education outside. Cases of hypertension, obesity and diabetes among school children have been on the rise due to the lack of physical activity among children who spend most of their leisure time glued to television, cellphones and social media. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has launched the programme to prepare the physical health and fitness profile report card for the children. A total of 1,094 Kendriya Vidyalayas across the nation will come under the programme, which will be launched on November 1.
About the Programme
‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ programme will provide a comprehensive and inclusive report card for children covering all age groups and children of different abilities. Making students, teachers and parents aware about the importance of good health and fitness and encouraging 60 minutes of play each day is an objective of the programme. ‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ programme also intends to imbibe values of Olympics and Paralympics amongst students. Bring back the childhood amongst children and make physical activity and recreational games an integral part of learning process , Motivating potentially outstanding performers in various games and sports of excellence, using technology for data capture and analytics, and giving access to schools, parents and teachers are also the objectives of the programmes.