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Punjab govt plans fresh reboot for Bathinda sports school
Under the new plan, the sports department will take a lead role in training, while academics will also be streamlined
The Government Sports Senior Secondary School, a pioneering institution designed to nurture sports talent in rural areas, is set to undergo a major restructuring after the state government agreed in principle to integrate the sports and education departments. This move aims to streamline the management of the school and enhance both sports training and academic performance for its students.
Located at Ghudda in Bathinda and a brainchild of the former chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal, the residential school was established in 2010 to identify and nurture talented players in rural areas.
The institute is being run by a local committee headed ex-officio by the Bathinda deputy commissioner (DC).
The school has sanctioned posts of seven teachers and 14 coaches. The residential school offers 11 different indoor and outdoor sports, including volleyball, wrestling and swimming for students of Classes 6 to 12.
As per the information, the school has only five teachers and seven coaches, while the principal is on deputation from the education department.
Officials blame the state government’s model, wherein the sports department had no role in running the sports institute.
Bathinda DC Rajesh Dhiman said according to a new plan, the sports department will have a direct lead role with its coaches imparting training to students.
The DC said it was felt that the existing system to manage the institute needs a change to give the institute a boost by streamlining both sports and academics of the school.
The state authorities have agreed in principle, and final modalities are being worked out. An official notification in this regard is expected soon, said Dhiman.
“Contractual staff at the institute had filed a case in the Punjab and Haryana high court for job regularisation and they had secured a stay order. We are working to sort out the matter, where the coaches and teachers may be reemployed under the proposed new plan. The school management committee was unable to make any plans due to a stay order, and now the government has given its nod to make it a special school with the intervention of the sports and education department,” added the DC.
The education department manages the institute and coaches and faculty members are being hired on contract.
Official sources said the concept of a local sports school was initiated with an experiment, but over the years, it faced problems of funding for making timely payments to the staff and maintenance of the students’ hostel and their diet.
When the school was launched by the then SAD-BJP government in 2010, a fixed deposit of ₹15 crore was instituted. Education department officials said that due to the scarcity of funds, the school depends on ₹30 lakh received quarterly as interest against the FD from the bank, which is insufficient to meet expenses.
The school has 300 seats and admission is done after trials of different sporting events.
According to information, only 105 students took admission in this session. People aware of the matter said the sports trial schedule was hit due to restrictions imposed in view of Operation Sindoor in May this year.
“It was observed that a lot of students could not reach the trial venues. We are confident that the admission rate will increase in the next academic session,” said an official.
Officiating school principal Narinder Singh said that the school has started renovation work as it has got ₹3 crore from the government and another ₹2 crore under corporate social responsibility (CSR) for hostel maintenance and sports infrastructure.
