The state government on Thursday issued orders making physical education compulsory from Classes 1 to 10 in all schools from the academic year 2012-13 onwards. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who made this announcement at the valedictory function of `Education Fortnight' held in the city on Thursday, said that orders would be issued within a week. Even prior to this, Mr Reddy has, on several occasions, talked about making a “compulsory period“ for sports and games in the daily time-table.

Meanwhile, the school education department has been issuing a `school academic calendar' every year for the last several years, duly prescribing the number of periods to be allotted for curricular and co-curricular activities, including health and physical education, cultural and moral education. But this remains only on paper, with no monitoring mechanism to ensure its implementation. Besides, a majority of schools lack playgrounds, operating from multistoreyed buildings, commercial buildings and other congested premises.

As per earlier government orders, students of Class 1 to 7 were prescribed 42 periods a week for various activities, out of which three days were for physical education. The latest orders mandate schools to allot six periods, covering all the working days.

The two physical education periods earlier allotted for students of Class 8 to 10 were also increased to six. Schools without playgrounds were asked to tie up with nearby government schools or municipal grounds.