SAI, youth affairs ministry must join hands to set up sports education regulator: Parliamentary panel

A parliamentary panel has called for setting up a separate regulatory body for sports education in a report presented to the parliament on Wednesday. The committee has recommended that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) should consult with the ministry to set up a dedicated body and work towards providing formal education to the athletes.

The parliamentary standing committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, as part of the report, has reviewed the functioning of SAI and the Khelo India programme.

SAI is an autonomous organisation functioning under the Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. It is the apex body for promoting sports and sports excellence in the country.

SAI, NCOEs: Residential sports schools

The 24 National Centers of Excellence (NCOEs) run by SAI prepare top-of-the-line athletes for the Olympics and other international events and provide boarding, lodging, education, medical insurance, and specialised training etc to them.

“The committee notes that these Centers of Excellence do not combine sports with education. As a result, formal education of the athletes lags behind. The committee feels that the educational needs of such athletes should also be taken care of in the institution itself,” stated the report.

Reiterating the recommendation from its earlier report, the committee states that “young sportspersons should be supported in their academic journeys so as to not have to be forced to choose between the two.”

“All NCOEs and SAI regional centers establish residential sports schools with curriculum and school structure developed to specifically support sportspersons. The committee noted that successful examples of sports education in foreign countries should be studied for adaptation in India as well. Sport integrated learning, as envisioned in the NEP, should be promoted,” stated the report.

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The panel stated that athletes should be provided school education within the complex of lodging.

“The committee recommends that athletes be supported by the NCOEs in their higher education as well, through open degree programmes or tie-ups with universities that are proximate to the NCOEs,” added the report.

‘SAI must tie-up with KV, DSE’

The committee recommends that till SAI establishes schools, it should work with the Department of School Education and Literacy and the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan to give preference to NCOE athletes in admissions in local KV schools.

“This will help enable athletes to continue their academic learning while receiving training in their respective disciplines,” stated the report.

It has also recommended that SAI and the department of sports work with state governments to get exemption for NCOE athletes from the domicile/matriculation requirements for government jobs in their respective states.

“This will enable the athletes to receive academic instruction in-person rather than the current status quo where several athletes enroll in schools in their respective home states while living and training in their respective NCOEs,” it adds.

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‘Consult SAI’: Ministry of Youth Affairs told

“The committee notes that there is currently no regulatory body for sports education since it is not in the purview of University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) etc,” stated the report.

The panel states that given SAI’s expertise in sports administration and education, the ministry should consult SAI on the need and feasibility of setting up a separate body to regulate sports education.