Will Hockey India step in and play its dutiful role?

Sweeping reforms are taking place in the secondary and high school level education. Kapil Sibal, the new Human Resources Minister, has recently announced a sinew of measures to reform school education that includes abolition of mark system for evaluating students and the mark system will be replaced with grade. The idea behind the reform is mainly to infuse creativity and lessen the exam-centric ills. Government of India also passed a landmark law called Right to Education by which massive inflow of money and creation infrastructure is expected.

A eleven member committee has been set up by the HRD to go into and suggest methods by which the intended reform can be put in place.

It is therefore right time for the sports bodies, especially Hockey India which looks after the affairs of National Game of India, to step and seize the opportunity.

Sports, in particular, hockey is not prevalent in schools. Now that the focus on securing marks is being dispensed, sports and creative aspects of children should take that spot instead. It is expected sports can be made a good substitute as was the case in the late 18th century that ultimately led to Coubertin to foresee his vision of Modern Olympics.

Its schools in the late 18th century British that adopted and played hockey in a form we know now (from Hurley to hockey, I mean) — which flourished and entered the Olympic arena in the end.

Before employment concept swept Indian sports, its schools and colleges that sustained hockey. Anglo-Indians, backbone of Indian hockey in its formative years, sprang from schools in Bilaspur, Jubbalpore, Chennai, Calcutta, Mussorie, Dehra Dun, Bangalore, Bombay …. the list goes on.

I have the practical experience on schools hockey in the last one year atleast.

Hockey draws enormous support and sympathy among school heads. They are willing to take up hockey. Even then if hockey is not there in as many schools as would would have wanted, it was due to some serious factors — cost and violent nature of the sport being the main ones.

With a right policy push, necessary motivation and right kind of infrastructure provision, hockey can be brought back to schools in a big way. The situation for that is now ripe with school education reform being undertaken on a massive scale.

Hockey India, I strongly recommend, should find out ways and means how it can put its views in the reform process and enjoin the reformists.

The present Sports Minister is accessible, has a heart for hockey (he is the founder director of Punjab Sports Department when hockey was the prime sport in the province) and always takes pride in speaking about hockey. I think Hockey India should avail the existing and emerging situation and see it contributes how hockey can enter the reform process, which will pay in the long run.

We were told there is a Director planning and Director Projects in the current set up. I hope they are watching the situation and taking cognizance of it.

Olympian legend KD Singh Babu often said, ‘ignoring schools hockey is ignoring hockey itself’. How true!