K-P finally approves sports policy

Policy binds schools to hold sports days, addresses absence of sports grounds by forming school clusters

PESHAWAR: While the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party ruling Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), is led by a former cricket world cup winner and a sporting icon revered in the country and beyond, the province his party governs has taken nearly five years to create its first-ever sports policy.

The policy, unveiled on Wednesday, aims to promote healthy sporting activities throughout the province through a systematic, participative approach by involving the government, educational institutions, private sector and local bodies.

The policy, approved by the provincial cabinet on Wednesday, calls for providing equal opportunities for healthy sports activities beyond the boundaries of class, colour, creed and religion.



It was created by the Performance Management and Reforms Unit (PMRU) in collaboration with sports department of K-P.

The policy focuses on adherence to the growing modernisation and use of technology in all games. The policy makes it mandatory for all government schools above the primary level to declare a day (preferably Saturday) as a sports day.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Department will determine the modalities and issue notifications in this regard.

The policy shall apply equally to private schools and the private school's regulatory authority or education boards would condition fresh registration or renewals with holding sports days.

The policy also calls for the introduction of marks and certificates from class-5 to class-8 in order to attract students towards sporting activities in school.



To overcome the shortage of playgrounds at schools, the policy introduces cluster system in which six nearby schools will share a sports ground or other available facilities available at one of the six schools in the cluster.

All the six schools would then be collectively responsible for the maintenance of that facility. Expenditures for the maintenance of the facility will be provided from the PTC funds of the schools in the cluster.

In case none of the schools in the cluster has any sporting facility, then an open space at a safe location from private land owner shall be rented for the purpose.

Moreover, every school shall have the liberty to rent an open space from the PTC funds for the sports day.

To promote a sporting culture in the province, the policy calls for the annual development programme of the sports sector which will focus on establishing playing facilities in backward districts and strengthen the existing facilities in the central and developed districts.

It calls for the establishment of at least one Category-A sports complex in each district and the standardization and provision of all missing facilities to the existing sports complexes.



It states that the funds on a regular basis shall be allocated for talent hunt programmes and mega sports competitions. The sports department shall initiate the process of sports education and shall provide help to public sector universities to establish a department of sports sciences, develop curriculum and start awarding degrees in the field of sports, coaching, physical fitness and sports regulatory disciplines.

Furthermore, it makes it mandatory for the education departments (both higher education and elementary and secondary education department) to include playgrounds in the PC-1 for a new school, college or institute. In case no land is available, the provision for indoor hall shall be put in.

The policy also calls for the encouragement of private sector for investment in sports infrastructure and industry.

The sports department of K-P will serve as a facilitator and its job will be to determine the required standards of sports facilities, their registration, enlistment and fee.

The department shall also frame the criteria for the enlistment of privately owned sports facilities and rank their categorisation on the basis of their standards and regularise their fee, facilities and safety measures.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2018.