Today while scanning the news websites, I came across a campaign launched by NDTV called "Marks for Sports". While details can be found on their website and facebook page, their main intention behind this campaign can be summarized by the following "We believe that if schools and education boards were to include Sports as a part of the main curriculum, parents as well as children will devote more time to sports, setting them on the path of a lifetime of fitness. On the basis of this thought and in keeping with the NDTV’s philosophy of promoting critical issues, to launch the NDTV-Nirmal Lifestyle Fit India Movement with our mission in the first year being - MARKS for Sports." While it would no doubt be good to see sports other than Cricket flourish in India, I do not agree that assigning marks for sports would help much.
There is no arguing the fact that kids in India could use more exercise. However, that can be addressed by having regular and mandatory physical education hours each week whereby the entire class gets the required exercise under the strict observation of the Physical Ed. teachers. If required, a fitness test can be held at the end of the semester simply to make sure that students make the mark in terms of physical fitness. There need not be any quantitative evaluation of a student's fitness that feeds into academic records.
As far as students' involvement in sports is concerned, whatever voluntary involvement we see today is due to participating students' interest in these sports. They like to take part in these due to their liking for the sports and because they symbolize some amount of freedom. There is no requirement to meet specific numbers as such and they can have fun while playing even if they are not very good at it. By quantifying sports in terms of MARKS, the educational system would take all fun and freedom out of it and students would no longer enjoy playing. They would look upon sports as yet another requirement in the rat-race for MARKS and achieve the bare minimums to move along. This could potentially kill their desire to pursue the sport after they graduate from school and could be disastrous for India's professional sports scene.
Moreover, students' performance in sports depends on physical abilities and not every student is born with the same physical abilities. Assigning MARKS to sports puts to a great disadvantage those students who are unfortunately impaired lets say due to poor vision (glasses), asthma, genetic obesity issues etc. In fact, this is true even wrt academic performance whereby not everybody is born with the same mental ability and aptitude. Bottom line is that a grading system assigning MARKS for performance is not appropriate.
If schools do want to encourage sports, they can have a system of scholarships or some kind of optional academic benefits to those who participate in a sport. Such a system would not only reward and encourage participation in sports but would do so without sucking the fun out of it. Also, there needs to be a differentiation between physical education and sports. While each kid needs a good amount of exercise, it can be achieved through physical education classes without forcing sports onto those who are unable or uninterested in participation.
There is no arguing the fact that kids in India could use more exercise. However, that can be addressed by having regular and mandatory physical education hours each week whereby the entire class gets the required exercise under the strict observation of the Physical Ed. teachers. If required, a fitness test can be held at the end of the semester simply to make sure that students make the mark in terms of physical fitness. There need not be any quantitative evaluation of a student's fitness that feeds into academic records.
As far as students' involvement in sports is concerned, whatever voluntary involvement we see today is due to participating students' interest in these sports. They like to take part in these due to their liking for the sports and because they symbolize some amount of freedom. There is no requirement to meet specific numbers as such and they can have fun while playing even if they are not very good at it. By quantifying sports in terms of MARKS, the educational system would take all fun and freedom out of it and students would no longer enjoy playing. They would look upon sports as yet another requirement in the rat-race for MARKS and achieve the bare minimums to move along. This could potentially kill their desire to pursue the sport after they graduate from school and could be disastrous for India's professional sports scene.
Moreover, students' performance in sports depends on physical abilities and not every student is born with the same physical abilities. Assigning MARKS to sports puts to a great disadvantage those students who are unfortunately impaired lets say due to poor vision (glasses), asthma, genetic obesity issues etc. In fact, this is true even wrt academic performance whereby not everybody is born with the same mental ability and aptitude. Bottom line is that a grading system assigning MARKS for performance is not appropriate.
If schools do want to encourage sports, they can have a system of scholarships or some kind of optional academic benefits to those who participate in a sport. Such a system would not only reward and encourage participation in sports but would do so without sucking the fun out of it. Also, there needs to be a differentiation between physical education and sports. While each kid needs a good amount of exercise, it can be achieved through physical education classes without forcing sports onto those who are unable or uninterested in participation.
