Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 8 (IANS) Sports will be a part of the curriculum for Classes 1-12 in all Kerala schools, officials said Sunday.
In a joint press conference, state Education Minister M.A. Baby and Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar said the formal launch of the scheme would be done by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Nov 14 in the presence of former India cricket captain and present chairman of selectors K. Srikkanth.

“This would become part of the curriculum for classes 1-12 and would include classroom teaching as well as in the playground. This academic year itself it would come into effect and the syllabus is being readied,” said Baby.

The change will be applicable to all state-run and private schools in the state.

The Sports Council and the State Council of Educational Research and Training are working out the syllabus and it would include the number of periods for each class.

As the first step, all school teachers up to Class 5 have been trained, he said.

“Around 52 playgrounds in 13 districts have been identified because not all schools have sufficient playgrounds. Last year, we set up a seven-member Sports Commission to submit a detailed report on developing sports in the state. Of the 69 recommendations, inclusion of sports as a subject was the first recommendation and we decided to accept it,” said Vijayakumar.

The commission was headed by A.K. Pandya the first director general of the Sports Authority of India.

Baby added that since there is a dearth of trained sports faculty in the state, they have decided to set up a data bank in which all sports personnel in each district would be registered and their help would be sought to impart proper training to the students, he said.