You may call me a biased author as you read my thoughts on the importance of sports integration in school curriculum simply because I happen to be a mother of 11 year old who’s daily oxygen supply is based on kicking a football in whatever space he can find.
Wait I have more – Ajit Agarkar, my better half, started playing competitively at a tender age of 12 and went on to represent the country at 19 – the highest honour for any sportsman. My father, Moize Ghadially, who turns 75 this year, happens to have a post-graduation in Literature and Business Management but is a passionate sportsman. He defines his religion as “cricket”. He played a club match at the ripe age of 60 when his team had a player short! Not to be justyfy behind my brother, Mazhar represented Mumbai as part of the Ranji Trophy squad played all his life before joining the family business. My cousin, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala a leading surgeon in the country, still reckons his pace and skill as a bowler is his greatest achievement in life.
And then there was moi, who dreaded Sports Days in school as I had no real skill or talent and unfortunately back in our days, only the ones with talent were attended to! Yet, as Director of international schools, I always rooted for sports as a subject in the curriculum where no child was justyfy behind simply because the take- away for a child with this exposure in the formative years is simply tremendous.
You might argue that this affection to sports has something to do with the genes?
It may well be but, all the individuals above pursued their respective careers and chartered their own success but attributed a lot to the fact that they grew up with sports as an exposure. As Ajit often says: it taught him discipline, team work, patience, acceptance of things sometimes not working out but continuing to pursue his dream.
I recently read a beautiful article by Swati Popat Vats hailing a revolution for the inclusion of play as part of a pre-school routine. It is an alarming fact that increasingly in pre-schools the need to “learn” is taking away the importance of free play. So this then isn’t just a high school related issue, I think as a community we need to change our mindset and understand that as important stake holders in a child’s life – parents and educators- we have a responsibility towards these young minds and our attitude towards this form of physical exercise will define what our children gain. Without much ado, let’s get down to understanding why sports is extremely critical
- Keeps The Childs Mind Active: Sports, indoor and outdoor, keeps the child’s mind active and alert.
- Channelizes Negative Energy: Sports engages the mind and helps in channelizing a lot of negative energy, scientific study shows improved concentration, initiation of life skills such as communication, handling pressure in a match situation, team work etc.
- Health and Fitness: I have not even touched the importance of health and fitness with physical exercises and the reduction of challenges we face as a result of our modern lifestyle.
With a back drop of all these positive influences, it is a real wonder then why as parents and educators we don’t do more to include sports as an integral part of the school curriculum, giving it the same importance that an English class or Math commands.
I have worked with many schools across the country and when a teacher is unable to complete her portion, the first period to be compromised is PE. Unless we change our attitude towards the subject as educators and parents (because the pressure on school management is clearly based on the expectation of the parents), we will never truly give our children the head start they need for life.
As Swati Popat Vats has said in her article, it is time we woke up and saved these children … before it is too late and we have to deal with behavioural issues and health challenges, all the consequences of our modern lifestyle.
I, for one, hope that we are nurturing 21st Century learners and equipping them with these life skills for a better tomorrow and a large part of these skills have some ready solutions in sports integration.
Can we allow our child to play for 2 hours before an exam the next day, or will we remain selfish as a grade is at stake? Will we think that physical play will tire the child out or think that it will help her/ him concentrate better?
Internalise and reflect, no easy decisions however a balance is surely possible.
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Fatema Agarkar, Founder , Agarkar Centre of Excellence (ACE)
Veteran of 3 educational start-ups , now Founder of the Agarkar Centre of Excellence, Fatema’s passion for teaching-learning and children defines the different roles she has crafted in 20 years – as an edupreneur, educator and mentor.
Fatema who is a State and University topper as part of the prestigious Mumbai based Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, holds a degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Birmingham (UK), apart from her B.ED and ECCE degrees amassed when she decided education was her calling. Having kick-started her career in the corporate world and working with premier organizations like Commerzbank, Times of India and Egon Zehnder International, she always had an inner urge to bring about an enhancement in the sphere of education..
As an educationist and life-long learner, she has come a long way to intertwine modern methods of learning, teaching and customizing education as per the student’s intellectual requisites thus eradicating stress that stems from the education system. She has been sedulous in making comprehensive alterations in the education field in India. Being a risk-taker, Fatema has been focusing on the generation of innovative educational modules and her in-depth academic know-how, nothing but truly defines her ceaseless passion. Her name is synonymous with successful education models of the country and she is adjudged as Education World’s top 50 Educators in the year 2020. Adding more feathers to her hat, she has also been the recipient of several prestigious awards for her outstanding contribution to the field of education in the years 2013 and 2015.
Fatema has been awarded by Giants Group for her outstanding contribution to the field of education in 2012, the Young Achiever’s Award in the year 2017, Singapore based, Best of Asia’s, ‘Enterprising Educator in the year 2018 and as an entrepreneur ‘Best Edupreneur 2019 and Best Leadership’ by Progressive Academic Excellence India (Maharashtra 2019) and one of the 10th finest inspirational educators in 2019 by TKR, India . Her name is synonymous with successful education models of the country and she is adjudged as Education World’s top 50 Educators in the year 2020. Adding more feathers to her hat With close to 2 decades of experience in education, Fatema is the recipient of several honours including the Indian Achiever’s Award 2021. In July 2023, Fatema was also awarded the ‘Mumbai’s top Women Leader’ award by the CMO Asia National Awards’ (10th edition). Fatema is also a Jury Member for Cambridge School Recognition Awards 2025.
Having being associated with leading high school brands like DRS International, Hyderabad, NSS Hill Spring International, Mumbai, The Gera School, Goa, D Y Patil High School, Talegaon (Pune), SVM, Ratnagiri by the Gadre family, The Excellere World School, Gurgaon, JBCN International Schools, Mumbai, Fatema has now close to 40 pre-schools and high schools that she has set up from the grassroot level including a school for special needs’.
Fatema is on the Advisory Board of several Trusts including EduTech India, Wockhardft Foundation as well as a jury member, Education World Awards, a platform that recognizes the efforts of educators pan India. Fatema is also the Vice President for Early Childhood Association (ECA) and the Mumbai Territory Head for Association for Primary Education & Research (APER) in India. Fatema has been appointed as the global ambassador of the Commonwealth Entrepreneurs Club. . Fatema is on the advisory board of the All-India Gaming Federation (AIGF) and currently appointed as the National Council Member for Financial Literacy & Management by WICCI. Given her access to parents and her ability to provide age appropriate strategies to enable them to make more informed choices, Fatema’s passion remains counselling in the hope that effective parenting will enable children to benefit the most.
Fatema is also the special advisor of the Child Chapter Association (CCA), a non-governmental organisation registered as a Section 8. company under the Companies Act, 2013 whose mission is to spread awareness and eliminate child abuse, including child sexual abuse. Her role as a special advisor of CCA includes providing advice and guidance for their special outreach programs for Schools and teachers that tap into the child psyche and help them raise their voice against abuse. Fatema also played an instrumental role in the development of the CCA comic books and characters for their global campaign for child abuse awareness and prevention.
Currently, Fatema is the Advisor & Mentor to Finland International School, Race Course and on course to start her own school in 2026. As a TedX speaker, and a avid blogger, Fatema is passionate about sharing her knowledge amassed and inspiring stakeholders be it teachers, parents or students.
Her vision includes set up up of Soup Kitchens, Foster Homes and a community centre for the elderly under the Agarkar Foundation in time.
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