Tamil Nadu PE teachers demand separate funds for sports

COIMBATORE: Sports activities in schools can get better only with adequate funds. Physical Education (PE) teachers who are tasked with sports and games in the state are upset as they have to spend money out of their own pocket to support students in this regard. This could have been avoided had there been separate funds for sports in schools as in the past, say PE teachers.    

A PE teacher from a government high school in Coimbatore told TNIE that the school education department is conducting zonal-level sports competitions for the government and aided school students in 383 places across the state under the 14, 17 and 19 age categories.

“The school education department allocates general grants to schools every year but separate funds are not given to sports activities. The headmasters decide to allot funds to sports activities. In reality, headmasters use the whole fund for maintenance and repair work.

Often the funds are inadequate to carry out the necessary works,” he said.
He narrated his predicament of spending his own money on sports-related expenses. “Currently, I have to take 50 students for zonal-level competitions in volleyball, kabaddi, etc.

As the headmaster did not allocate funds from the general grants, I spent Rs 60 per student from my pocket per day for food and snacks. They will be playing in different competitions for six days. I have arranged Rs 25,000 considering student welfare though I am low on funds,” he said.

Many PE teachers are spending their money on sports activities of students, he claimed. Till 2008, the school education department had given separate funds to schools based on the number of students, said Tamil Nadu Physical Education Teacher and Directors Association state general secretary V Periyadurai.

“For classes 6, 7 and 8, Rs 7 was allocated per student. Twice the amount, Rs 14, was allotted per head for classes 9 and 10 and Rs 21 per student was allotted for classes 11 and 12. During that period a separate bank account was maintained in all schools. After the implementation of the general fund concept, almost 90% of headmasters do not allocate funds for sports activities. If PE teachers ask for funds, some headmasters object. PE teachers face many struggles in taking students to competitions,” he said.

Periyadurai revealed most PE teachers spend their money to take students to zonal and district-level competitions. He urged Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to allocate separate funds to the schools by allocating Rs 100 to each student. This will help PE teachers to improve sports activities, Periyadurai noted. School Education Department secratary S Madhumathi told TNIE that she would look into this matter.