Page 97 - EW April 2025

Teacher-2-Teacher

Improving PE & well-being

education

RAHUL MEHRA

OMMENDABLY, THE NATIONAL EDUCATION We need comprehensive health educa-
Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum
Framework (NCF) have included ‘Physical Educa- tion because it infuses lifelong health
Ction (PE) & Well-being’ as a curriculum focus area habits. Children’s poor physical and
in the preparatory, middle and secondary schooling stages
i.e, from classes III-XII. mental health is a major roadblock to
This is commendable because physical education teaches achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat
students how to become — and remain — physically ac-
tive and healthy. Well-being is the combination of physi-
cal, mental and social health. Although it is not expressly ed practice. The goal of this book should have been to also
stated in the NCF document, it is safe to conclude that the teach students how to plan and sustain healthy daily diets.
goal of ‘PE & Well-being’ in school curriculums is to enable Recommendations for improving the curriculum.
students to acquire the knowledge and skills/behaviour to To realise the goal of “students acquiring the knowledge
become physically, mentally and socially healthy. and skills/behaviour to develop good physical, mental and
NCF states that new textbooks will be developed for this social health”, the following material should be included in
curriculum area, and that books for classes III and VI have the curriculum and textbooks for classes III-XII.
already been printed. One hundred hours per academic year Mental & social health. The focus areas of PE and Yoga
have been allocated for classes III-VIII and 90 hours for need to be complemented by addressing mental and social
classes IX-XII for PE and wellbeing education. health issues. Mental health and overall well-being requires
This is a major step forward for the Indian education developing self-esteem, values, management of stress and
system and if well executed, will result in valuable long- emotions, creativity, goal setting, decision making, empa-
term investment in health of the nation. thy etc. Social health should cover communication, healthy
Curriculum needs improvement. To determine which relationships, collaboration, violence prevention etc.
health topics have been covered in the curriculum, Tarang Physical health. Students should be taught about the
Health Alliance reviewed the Physical education & Well- dangers of tobacco, alcohol/drug abuse and about air pol-
being books titled Khel Yatra and Curiosity science text- lution, reproductive health, auditory/vision/dental health,
book. These are the only officially approved books on PE & first aid etc. These issues are listed in NEP 2020 but are
Well-being in print. ignored or inadequately covered in these textbooks.
Khel Yatra. This textbook focuses primarily on physical During the past year, I met with several officials from the
activity and Yoga practices. Physical education in schools Department of School Education and Literacy and NCERT
normally translates into children playing sports or doing to advocate a separate health education policy and discuss
physical exercises. When properly executed, these activi- the necessity for a comprehensive health curriculum in
ties can teach students positive social behaviour such as schools. Among the officials I met were the Secretary of
teamwork and effective communication, but not all social the Dept. of School Education. At NCERT, I met the Direc-
behaviours. Developing other important social behaviour tor and other officials. The recommendations listed above
e.g, healthy relationships, abjuring violence etc, is not ad- have been shared with them. There is still an opportunity
dressed in this book. Moreover, the book is not sensitive to to improve the content of the prescribed textbooks for pre-
the fact that many schools don’t have playgrounds. paratory, middle and secondary schools, which have not
Yoga is normally practiced in schools by students con- yet been printed.
ducting asanas. These are very good for physical health and We need comprehensive health education in schools
improving certain aspects of mental health e.g, developing to infuse lifelong health habits, and improve the learning
focus and concentration. However, other important aspects outcomes of children. India has very high prevalence of life-
of mental health e.g, goals setting, creativity, decision mak- style and infectious diseases. One in three adults has high
ing, managing stress etc, are not addressed. Teaching PE blood pressure and one in four is diabetic or pre-diabetic.
and Yoga are unlikely to improve overall well-being, which Mental health problems of youth and adults are increasing
is the prime objective of NEP 2020 and NCF. rapidly resulting in poor quality of life and hampering our
Curiosity. The main subject covered in this science text is economic development.
nutrition. It focuses primarily on knowledge about compo- For India, children’s poor physical and mental health is
nents of food items and vitamins/minerals in various fruits a major roadblock to achieving the goals of Viksit Bharat
and vegetables. The focus on health knowledge stems from and $30 trillion GDP by 2047.
requiring students to regurgitate facts and pass exams. The
curriculum does not teach students what constitutes a daily (Rahul Mehra is National Representative of India, UNESCO Chair for
balanced diet and how to develop that know-how by repeat- Global Health & Education and Chairman, Tarang Health Alliance)

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