The right to be fit

Enakshi Rajvanshi
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1978 adopted the International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport. For the first time, the practice of “physical education and sports” was established as a fundamental human right, and emphasized its importance in education, individual and community needs.

Taking the holistic view

Vaibhav Pandya
What approach shall we take for physical education? Should it be movement education or sports education or fitness education or a mix of these or something else? Each takes up one part of development or developmental need and some can only fit at different levels of the school curriculum.

Paanch minute aur!

Arnab Bhattacharjee
India’s Minister of State for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Olympic medal winner Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore fondly remembered his childhood during the launch of the Khelo India programme. Addressing the nation on a social media platform, he said, “in our childhood when we used to play, that was the exact time when our parents would remind us of our homework.

Khel Khel mein

Devina Sarwatay
A recent UNICEF and Barça Foundation report, ‘Understanding the evidence for child-focused sport for development’, features beautiful pictures of children playing. There is happiness and enjoyment, determination and focus on the faces of these young people photographed in India and other places like Athens, Kenya, Congo, Laos, Paraguay, Barcelona, Ecuador, and Nepal.

Remaining active for life

N Ramesh
In this article I am going to take you through my journey as an athletics coach. I will talk about physical fitness as well as other “substantive aspects” of physical education – emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual – which, if rightly taught will help in the holistic development of every child.

Coaching a winner

Subha Das Mollick
P T Usha had O.M. Nambiar, P.V. Sindhu has Pullela Gopichand, Mary Kom has Ibomcha Singh and Arjuna had Dronacharya. What is the role of a coach in a person’s sporting career? What does a coach do to bring out the best in a sportsperson?

Bonding with the ball

Tom Byer
In 2014, Mr. Gao, general manager of Beijing Guoan, the professional Chinese football team, visited me in Tokyo where I live. Mr. Gao, along with several assistants attended a football event I was doing in Yokohama for approximately 800 kids. I remember Mr. Gao’s expression when he saw that there were 800 kids, and only my assistant and me to conduct the event.

Running is education

Santosh Padmanabhan
Running started as a punishment in my younger days for being late to P.E class, but turned out to be my window and purpose to life. We tend to see running only as a sport, hobby or a passion but in effect it is an entire new world of learning. Here are some of our experiences in creating a schooling system that sees running as an integral part of learning in school.

The return of yoga

Sheel
Yoga – this word tends to conjure up images of people in various kinds of difficult poses, doesn’t it? Especially with International Day of Yoga (IDY) around the corner. Since 2015, IDY has been celebrated around the world on June 21. People participate in spectacular displays in locales that range from public parks to parliaments.

Keep playing – like a girl

Indumathi S.
Success and participation in sports appear to be self-driven and self-motivated, but in reality schools play an important role in encouraging and involving girls in sports. This article discusses and draws attention to how organizing sports and physical education in schools can help girls participate in sports. It points out to the factor of not just involving and helping girls participate but sustaining their engagement with sports.