BENGALURU: The massive impact of teen-age cricket sensations – 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and now-20-year-old Niki Prasad, former U-19 women’s T-20 cricket team captain – on young cricketing minds is having a telling effect on the education trends in the country.
An increasing number of school and junior college students are quitting conventional education and joining open schooling – especially through National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) – to devote more hours daily to practice and sharpen their sports skills.
R Swaminathan, the Regional Director of NIOS has confirmed this trend while pointing at a whopping 120% rise in the number of admissions. “Last year, it was 4,600, this year, it crossed 10,000 so far,” he said. What is said to have triggered this shift in education trend is Sooryvanshi’s recent statements that he practises for about 10 hours daily between 7 am and 5 pm, facing up to 600 balls to hone in his batting skills.
Interactions with several cricket coaches at academies and parents of aspiring young cricketers revealed that this shift to open schooling is fully supported by parents who are themselves impressed by Sooryavanshi’s routine, which would not have been possible had he been studying in a conventional school.
Tripta (name changed) is a 15-year-old Class 10 student who opted for NIOS, and aims to play for India in the U-19 like Niki Prasad. Her father, who also requested anonymity said, “It was a difficult decision. To be honest, it was like a toss. But looking at her game and encouragement from her coach, we decided to opt for open schooling. Now looking at how Sooryavanshi and Niki are playing, I think we took the right decision.”
Another youngster, Adarsh (name changed), an U-19 league player aspiring to play for India, and impressed by Sooryavanshi, said, “With conventional schooling methods, I was unable to put in long hours of practice to pursue my interest in cricket.I opted out of conventional schooling to increase the number of practice hours. And my game and my grades are good.”
A Shankar, Honorary Secretary, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) – which runs state-sponsored academies to train young cricketers across three main age categories of under-14, under-16 and under-19 – said there is a marked rise in the number of students taking up cricket as a fulltime career and preferring open schooling.
“The talent is immense. Earlier, children were inspired by Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson and Smriti Mandana; but the latest role models for them are in their own age group – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Niki Prasad – who have themselves opted for open schooling,” he said.
The latest trend is a game-changer from the earlier understanding that playing for the school – like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma – and excelling there is the basic rung for rise in cricket careers. Aarush (name changed), who opted out of regular school after Grade-8, said, “After playing for clubs and getting selected for league matches, I do not regret my decision. I am getting noticed,” he said, adding that there are around 200 clubs in the state, and KSCA is encouraging them. They organise regular matches, from where players are selected for higher levels.
Nisheet Doshi, Adminstrator, Jawahar Sports Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs in Bengaluru, said the trend of students going for open schooling is picking up as the awareness and options are increasing.
Bindu M, a teacher at Delhi Public School (North) and at NIOS, said open schooling has not only helped students take up sports, but has also helped them improve academically. In many other cases, it has been observed that the confidence level of students has improved over time. The children, who opted out of conventional schooling because of poor results, are now excelling and getting over 92% under NIOS by choosing subjects of their interest compared to what the schools offered.
NIOS’ Swaminathan pointed out that not just for cricket, but even for other sports and cultural activities open schooling is offering a better schedule.
