Chennai: Madras high court has directed the state government to make it compulsory for all schools having the strength of more than 50 and less than 250 students, to hire physical education teacher/s by fixing the honorarium amount.
The second bench of Justices Huluvadi G. Ramesh and K. Kalyanasundaram, before which an appeal from the Director of School Education, and two other subordinates came up for hearing, said such qualified persons who are less than 60 years and ready to accept such assignment, are available in plenty. Such persons could be deployed in the schools, which are having strength of less than 250 and more than 50 students. They may be utilised for about two hours a day to impart physical education and yoga to the students, so that the physical activities of the students shall be taken care of and further it would not be burdensome for the government to adopt the above procedure.
The petitioners challenged an order dated April 15, 2013, of a single judge. Disposing of the appeal, the second bench has observed that whether the school strength may be more than 250 or not, the students studying in the school have to be given physical education to ensure healthy mind in a healthy body. Especially the children aged between 5 and 18 have to be taught physical education, along with yoga, to keep their physique in a good condition and also to concentrate on their studies. Thus, the need for physical education, should not be under-estimated. Appropriate norms with regard to appointment of physical education teachers in the schools have to be fixed, in relation to the strength of students. The bench directed the State government to issue a circular or GO.
