Jharkhand to organise mega sports event for 50 lakh school students

The event, ‘Khelo Jharkhand’, will kick off on November 5 and will continue till December 15. The best-performing students will be given an opportunity to hone their skills. 

The Jharkhand government is preparing to organise a mega sporting event for more than 50 lakh school students, an official said. The best-performing students from the primary to the higher secondary level will be given an opportunity to hone their skills. 

The event, ‘Khelo Jharkhand’, will kick off on November 5 and will continue till December 15. 

The eastern state has produced many well-known international players, including former team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, ace archer Deepika Kumari, and hockey stars such as Jaipal Singh Munda, Vimal Lakra, Nikki Pradhan, and Salima Tete. 

Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) has been assigned the responsibility to hold the mega event for over 35,000 primary, middle, secondary, higher secondary, residential, and other category schools such as Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) and model institutes. 

“The sports event intends to serve various purposes such as identifying budding talent and sharpening their skills, and promoting sports activity in schools. Sports help in inculcating discipline, developing leadership quality, team spirit, decision-making capacity, and competitiveness among students,” JEPC director Kiran Kumari Pasi said. 

Noting that practices such as child marriage, child labour, and trafficking of children affect the schooling of many children in Jharkhand, Pasi said, “The sports event could prove to be an important tool to overcome these problems and help the overall development of children.”  

Sports event to be held in 3 categories 

The event comprising athletics, football, hockey, kabaddi, volleyball, wrestling, and archery will be organised in three categories. In the first category, a school-level competition will be organised for students of classes 1 to 5. 

There will be competition among middle school students — classes 6 to 8, in the second category. It will be organised at the school, block, and district levels. 

The third stage will witness competition among secondary and higher secondary students, which will be organised at the school, block, and district levels. Finally, a state-level competition will be organised. 

As many as 19,446 primary schools, 13,660 middle schools, 1,826 secondary and 510 higher secondary schools will participate in the event. 

Over 50 lakh students expected to participate in event 

A total of 50,05,638 students from primary to higher secondary schools are expected to participate in the sporting event, said Dhirsen A Soreng, JEPC state programme officer and in-charge of physical education and sports. 

“The best talent will be identified from the event. We will collaborate with sports stakeholders for career opportunities for students in different possible departments. Jharkhand has 123 day boarding centres, 34 residential sports training facilities and one centre of the Sports Authority of India,” he said. 

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