New Delhi: The Delhi government will soon come up with a "sports school" for students who want to build their career in sports rather than academics, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Wednesday.
"We will soon come up with a sports school which will focus less on academics, and sports will be given preference instead. If there are students who want to develop their career in sports why should we force them to study history, geography or physics," Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, said at an award ceremony for sportspersons.
"We need to discover the talent of such students and give them special training for the sport of their interest," he said.
The minister conferred the Rajiv Gandhi State Sports Award on five sportspersons and disbursed cash incentives of Rs 8.64 crore to 3,754 outstanding sportspersons of Delhi for their achievements in the state, national and international-level competitions.
He said the work is already in progress for a sports university which the government had announced earlier.
"It is my dream...if a person plays for the country for 3-4 years, and he or she puts in the same efforts any student will make for earning a graduate degree in physics or chemistry, then the sportsperson should also be awarded with a degree which will help him earn livelihood and secure a job," Sisodia said.
The government is also holding discussions with training authorities and academies of national and international standards, including FIFA to organise training sessions for the students in Delhi, he said.
Later this week, badminton star P Gopichand will conduct a workshop-cum-training session for the officials and assist them in making a sports policy, Sisodia said.
The government had yesterday announced that it will rent out playgrounds of 77 schools run by it so that they can be used by sports associations and clubs to organise events after school hours and during holidays.
