Kolkata: Health and physical education will be introduced as a new compulsory subject from Classes 9 to 12 in schools affiliated to the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) from this academic year.A notification with detailed guidelines for implementing this was issued by CISCE Chief Executive and Secretary Joseph Emmanuel on Wednesday.The move, which follows recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE-2023), aims to provide ample opportunities to every student to participate in school-based physical education, health awareness and wellness activities, the notice says.Every student’s performance in the new subject will be assessed internally throughout the year, and the evaluation will be reflected as a grade in the board results, ICSE for Class 10 and ISC for Class 12.Students appearing for ICSE have another subject, SUPW, for which grades are given in the marksheet, and for which securing a pass grade (A to D) is compulsory.Bobby Baxter, principal of Rishi Aurobindo Memorial Academy, said in case a student fails in SUPW or the new health and physical education in ICSE, he or she will have to clear these during the improvement examination to avoid losing an academic year. However, schools rarely fail students in such subjects.The Council earlier launched ACTIVE CISCE — a programme to promote holistic health, identify sporting talent and track physical fitness through age-appropriate testing — for students of all classes. However, school principals said participation was not compulsory and, therefore, it was never taken seriously.The notice issued on Wednesday says assessment in health and physical education will be done internally and integrated with everyday school experiences. Students are to be marked on their participation in health and physical education activities, their adoption of healthy and active lifestyles, and their participation in the ACTIVE CISCE programme.Terence John, director of education and development at Julien Day Group of Schools, said the initiative will make students more conscious about health and physical activity. “Unless students are assessed, they won’t take it seriously. In order to measure sporting activities, the Council has given guidelines based on which schools can create their own template,” he said.Rodney Borneo, principal of St Augustine’s Day School, Shyamnagar, said, “Earlier, the Council asked us to upload certain parameters to ACTIVE CISCE, but now physical activities have to be assessed. So, this is good for healthy lifestyle of children.”
