KP govt approves sports policy: Sporting facilities to be created at schools level

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday approved the long-awaited sports policy to promote sports as an industry and encourage and award the sportsmen.

The province is first to form the sports policy after the devolution of powers to the province after the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

The draft of the policy was approved at the Cabinet meeting, held with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in the chair.

Under the policy, public and private sector educational institutions would serve as nurseries for the promotion of sports and sporting facilities would be created at schools level.

Sports would be given the status of an industry and large scale competitions would be conducted for the talent hunt. At provincial level, sports management committees would be formed for encouraging sportsman and a mechanism would be evolved for the provision of facilities, infrastructure, encouragement and award to the sportsman.

Promoting sports at grassroots level is one of the prime objectives of the policy.

The policy pushed for ‘Sport-for-All” model to ensure higher youth participation in sports. Under this model, the government would peruse various initiatives to encourage the kids, youth, women and provide more opportunities to disabled people to be involved in recreational and sports activities.

It said that Pakistan ruled various sports disciplines, like it won the national game Hockey World Cup for a record four times, three gold medals in Olympics, various Asian titles, cricket and dominated squash for decades till the 90s but went down in all sports in the last few decades due to absence of a sports policy and a clear direction.

It added the country had done all this despite limited sports infrastructure and proper coaching.

On the other hand, it said countries around the globe have been focusing on improving “sport-for-all” and youth policies during this period. It said these initiatives are key to improving community health, physical activity levels and community involvement.

It said that sensing a need for revival of lost glory of the country in various sports, the province felt the need to draft a comprehensive policy to put the country back on the right track by promoting sports infrastructure, involving youth in sports activities and assist best athletes to continue to reach new peaks of excellence to increase the pool of talent from which world champions would emerge.

It said the government is pursuing the “sports-for-all” model for all the youth in order to have their higher participation in sports.

To provide better sports facilities and level playing field to youth in rural areas and to bring the talented youth to the mainstream and get the opportunity to represent the province at national and country at international level competitions is one of the major goals of the policy.

Under the policy, proper infrastructure would be developed at the union council and tehsil levels so the youth of rural and far-flung areas would get the opportunity to play on proper sports facilities and hone their skills.

It said the government has enhanced the sports budget to Rs2 billion annually besides spending Rs1.5 billion for youth welfare and Rs500 million on tourism and culture activities.

Under the policy, the government would sponsor recreational and fitness opportunities for youth to create a desire among them to lead a healthy lifestyle. The government would also educate the teachers to incorporate physical activities and healthy lifestyles in their classrooms.

The initiative included funding physical education in the schools to ensure that youth receives proper education on how to live a healthy life and continue their activities after completing school level studies.

The government also planned to acquire the services of former athletes who would visit various schools across the province and impart skills to students in their respective sports disciplines, maintain fitness and career building skills and others.