Individuals who have played some form of sports during their school years are self-confident, team players and display leadership qualities, education experts say. The quality of education will be affected if extracurricular activities are eliminated from schools.

Principal of Galaxy Public School Geeta Rana believes extracurricular activities are crucial for physical and mental health of students.

“Sports teach discipline and team work, besides keeping one fit, both mentally and physically,” says Rana.

Most schools in Kathmandu Valley have engaged their students in indoor games. Due to lack of space, many schools are not able to expose their students in outdoor games and students also lack motivation to be exposed in extracurricular activities.

“Sports are fundamental to students’ growth and development. Students who play school sports even produce higher test scores,” says

Principal of Xavier International Gopal Bhandari.

Eighth grader Kamal Nepali of Xavier, who is also a national gymnastics player, has shown good test scores while being an outstanding

player.

Students who have sports history from their school life will give more output than others, says Bhandari.

These days, parents have started to enrol their daughters to join self-defence courses so that they can defend themselves against assault or sexual attack. Kritika Aryal, an eighth grader of Anupam Vidhya Sadan, says teachers taught them how to defend themselves.

Kritika’s mother Sangita says she encouraged her daughter to join self-defence class to learn how to protect herself in difficult situations.

“Only a limited number of female students play sports,” says Kritika, mentioning that there are fewer opportunities for students to participate in sports.

The schools should not just focus upon the grades of the students. School is about learning, but they should also train students to compete in games.

Balaram Koirala, a teacher at Budhanilkantha Higher Secondary School, says sports help develop the level of students in a balanced way.

“There are many parents who still believe their children will produce higher test scores if they study course books regularly. It’s a wrong notion. Kids should be exposed to athletics to develop the learning behaviour,” says Koirala.

Salon Adhikari, a tenth grader of Sunaulo Bhairabhi Secondary School in Dhading, says he gets tired studying long hours, so he plays cricket to keep himself fresh.

“I play cricket with friends to be refreshed and my parents are alright with it because I also secure good grades in my test,” says Adhikari.

Salon’s father Jhanka Prasad says, “Every parents should motivate their kids to play sports.”

In our country, most people believe that school is a place of learning. However, sports should also be part of the education.

Professor Bidya Nath Koirala, an education expert, believes students benefit from those schools that offer a variety of extracurricular activities.

“In the foreign countries, school education has been linked with physical and health education and also with personal and social development. All Nepali schools should also focus on linking sports knowledge with school education,” he suggests.