Schools may observe ‘no gadgets day’

Mumbai: Alarmed with the growing use of electronic gadgets by children, the state government is exploring the possibility of observing ‘No Gadgets Day’ in schools in the state.

As a part of this, the state government is planning to keep students away from electronic gadgets like mobiles, laptops and TV once in a week and encourage them to play out in open.

School education minister Vinod Tawde told the state Legislative Assembly, “To ensure students’ involvement in physical activities, the state has taken decisions such as allocation of 10 marks for sports activities, 5 per cent seats preferences to sportspersons, physical test instead of written test.”

Mr Tawde was replying to the issue raised by BJP MLA Tamil Selvan who said, “School students have stopped playing outdoors and are keeping themselves busy on social media by using electronic gadgets. Hen-ce the state should make physical fitness training at school compulsory.”

Mr Selvan further said that physical training must be made compulsory at schools, with a special class dedicated for the same. He also said that the marks scored in sports activities should be added during the results of final exams.