Thiruvananthapuram: A study, as part of the
programme to promote physical fitness among school children in
Kerala, has found that majority of them fell below the minimum
recommended standards of fitness.
The fitness tests among school children conducted jointly
by Education, Sports and Health departments, as part of the
Total Physical Fitness Programme (TPFP), has found that just
19.61 per cent of the state's school population (from classes
Five to Nine) enjoy the minimum recommended standard, Sports
and Youth Affairs Minister M Vijayakumar said today.
He said among the total number of 16,28,943 students who
were screened during 2008-09 academic year, only 4.10 per cent
got more than 75 points in all the test items and qualified
for second phase testing intended for talent identification.
A total of 13,938 students participated in the second
phase testing in which 6,625 students were found to have the
required standard of 75 points. According to the results
statewide, 474 students got 'A' grade, 1430 'B' grade and 6257
'C' grade.
One of the prime reasons for the poor fitness of students
was lack of proper physical activity, he said.
Government would take steps to boost the physical fitness
and enhance efforts to promote participation of school
children in physical activity and sports, he told reporters
after making a statement in the state assembly on the TPFP.
Effective steps would be identified through
public-private participation "to advance the attempts to
prepare young people for lifelong physical fitness", he said.
Education Minister M A Baby was also present.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 20:07