BHUBANESWAR: With Covid-19 pandemic renewing focus on health and fitness, the State government is planning to introduce physical education as a compulsory subject in schools.
The Sports and Youth Services department has urged the School and Mass Education (SME) department to take necessary measures in this regard. Though a meeting under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner was held in July, implementation of the decision was delayed due to the prevailing pandemic situation.
As per the decision, students at primary and elementary level will have one compulsory period of 60 minutes for outdoor activities daily including 40-minute physical education (PE). The department will also encourage morning drill, 10 to 15 minutes of yoga and other free-play sessions to improve the physical fitness of children. One monthly event on different physical literacy activities will also be organised in schools.
This apart, discussions on sports and counselling of parents will be taken up during parent-teacher meetings. Physical literacy assessment will be conducted on a monthly basis including training programmes for the PE teachers (PETs). The vacant posts of PETs in schools will be filled up shortly.