BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday applauded the efforts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) among the school students in Odisha with a focus on the values of friendship, excellence and respect. The state government has decided to scale up the programme, which is expected to impact more than 1.5 lakh school children in 250 schools in the next phase.
Odisha was the first state to implement OVEP in the country. The chief minister had launched the initiative in May 2022. Since then 32,000 children have been included in the programme, which was introduced in 90 schools in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
A team of delegates led by the director of the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage (OFCH) Angelita Teo on Sunday met the chief minister and discussed about the outcome of OVEP. The members appreciated the support extended by the state government in making the unique programme a success. The OFCH members will be visiting the OVEP-intervened schools in Bhubaneswar on April 3 and 4.
The initiative is being implemented in the state in collaboration with the School and Mass Education (SME) department and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust. Naveen also announced to support the Olympic forest network programme of the IOC through the plantation of more than one million trees this year. The IOC had earlier announced its commitment to be climate positive in 2024 in alignment with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Naveen handed over the delegation a letter inviting the IOC president Thomas Bach to Odisha when he visits India for the IOC session in Mumbai later this year in October. Among others, head (international cultural affairs) of IOC Frederique Jamolli, senior manager (education) of IOC Xenia Kourgouzova and Olympian Abhinav Bindra also met the CM.
Meanwhile, the chief minister on Sunday informed a delegation of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) about the state government’s decision to set up table tennis academies in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
The CM further told the delegation that plan are afoot to set up table tennis training centres across all the indoor halls in the state. He sought the help of the federation to provide coaches for the training programmes and hosting of international TT events in Odisha.
The delegation included president ITTF and ITTF foundation Petra Sorling, director ITTF foundation Leandro Olvech, programme manager ITTF foundation Saurabh Mishra, and programme coordinator ITTF Foundation Julia Tappendorf.