Do schools in India focus on sports and other extracurriculars?

Yes, schools in India do focus on sports and other extracurricular activities. The situation is different in different schools as in schools these activities are hindered due to the absence of proper equipment or faculty and even sometimes children simply can’t afford to concentrate.

But the top boards of the country have special provisions for sports and extracurricular which are marked with academics. In most schools however these marks are given automatically without any evaluation as the whole education structure is built around developing a particular set of skills, which will serve the student well in the corporate sector later on in life.

This doesn’t mean that these activities are not encouraged in schools. Every year there are events that are conducted, especially for sports on national level. Schools also have sports days and inter house competitions planned.

Participation in sports and other physical activities heightens self-esteem, encourages cooperation and develops friendships. Activities such as sports teams, drama clubs, or academic clubs offer kids the opportunity to improve mental and physical health, experience the pride of achieving goals, gain conflict-resolution skills, establish leadership abilities, and more.

Sports and extracurricular activities enrich your child’s life by supporting the development of beneficial lifelong skills — the arts, team building, self-discipline, a positive attitude, healthy lifestyle habits and overall fitness.

CBSE schools:

They are a new addition to school curriculum and this system was launched around 10 years ago.

‘These activities have enabled top CBSE schools to involve every student in an extracurricular activity which could be anything from martial arts to dancing, from music to fine arts, drama and photography; anything that can draw out their hidden talents and give them an insight into things they might otherwise never have known about.

ISC schools:
The curriculum for this board is considered to be more heavy as compared to CBSE board and it is believed that these schools allot less time to extracurricular activities but that is not true as importance is given to extracurricular activities. Activities like debating, poetry are considered to be more popular in these schools

IB board:

IB has this thing called CAS (Creativity, Action, Service)CAS creates opportunity and challenge; it makes students aware of their place in the world and encourages them to use their time in school and at home in a meaningful way.

All IB programmes require Creativity, Action, and Service which are interdependent concepts that can help students develop themselves and their understanding of others. CAS is a program by which students can apply for extracurricular activities within the school community.

One example of a CAS activity is that students can get out into the community to make their own service projects, or perhaps they can even plan and make an outreach project within their own homes.

Since any particular extracurricular activity isn’t owned by a board you will often find a mixture but this is the overall picture of the scenario.