Chandigarh fails to hold inter-school championships, yet again

Deepankar Sharda

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Chandigarh, January 18

For the second consecutive year, the UT Education Department has failed to conduct inter-school championships of any sport.

Last held in 2019, the championships for sessions 2019-20 and 2020-21 were not conducted in the recent past despite the MHA’s relaxation for hosting sports events, following Covid-appropriate behaviour, issued across the nation.

While the authorities blamed the pandemic for not holding the events, physical education instructors (teachers) of government schools claimed that non-contact games could have been conducted. Notably, local sports associations had conducted several state championships in which students from various schools (both private and government) participated.

Last year, the office of the District Education Officer (DEO) issued a circular asking the schools to seek Education Department’s approval before allowing their students to participate in competitions organised by local associations.

“The School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has not issued any schedule for conducting national championships. In this scenario, there’s no chance of conducting any local tournament. If the SGFI announces any schedule, we will definitely conduct inter-school events and happily extend our calendar to April,” said an official, seeking anonymity.

“There has to be some explanation on this. While local associations conducted championships, the government bodies had no planning or zeal to conduct any event. This will be for the first time that the department failed to conduct any championship for the second consecutive year. It’s a direct question on the functioning of the stakeholders,” said a teacher.

“It will be a disparity for school students as only a handful of them will be able to take advantage (scholarship and gradation certificates). These two years have been crucial for several students,” said another teacher.

Last year, after getting clearance from the MHA, the UT Administration had opened sports complexes for trainees. During this period, many local sports associations conducted their state championships. Despite partial closure of the campus, Panjab University conducted inter-college championships not only in Chandigarh, but also in other cities of Punjab. However, the UT Administration (Sports and Education) has failed to conduct any championship.

Non-contact games could have been conducted

While the authorities blamed the pandemic for not holding the events, physical education instructors (teachers) of government schools claimed that non-contact games could have been conducted. Notably, local sports associations had conducted several state championships in which students from various schools (both private and government) participated.