Former badminton player Pullela Gopichand mentioned that India cannot afford to have differences in directions between its education system and sports if its aim is to aid the holistic development of its youth.

"Sport and education fundamentally complement each other. With an aspiration for Vikasit Bharat, with our youth population, what are we looking at? We are looking at one-third of kids who get breathless in any physical activity. Six in 10 kids have flat feet and knock knees. One in three kids is obese, 80 per cent of school kids are not able to run 400 metres. This is the reality of Indian youth," said Gopichand, speaking at the Sportstar Focus Bihar Conclave at the Taj City as per Sportstar.

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Gopichand further added "The structure of life 30-40 years back was such that we did not need physical activity. Even before I played professional sport, I would spend hours playing outside. I would walk to school, there was plenty of natural activity. In the past few years, we have grown as a nation. But physically, we have gone down. It is hence important to get structured sport into the lives of our kids,” he said as quoted by Sportstar

The need for a sporting pathway

As reported by Sportstar, Gopichand said, “If I have a dream, it is that every kid must participate in physical activity. They should play multiple sports. They should start with a sport at age nine and play it till class 10. Then they should take a realistic view of what they can become.

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If they can become a world-class athlete, they should continue. At this stage, around 90 to 95 per cent talent we can filter out with sport science and a coach’s eye. If they have that potential to continue then we should ensure they continue to participate. With our Government’s schemes over the last 10-12 years, those pathways already exist. This is the crux of what sport for all would mean.”

Why does India need to learn from the West?

“The western world has learned to do both. We have come up in sport and need to learn how to do that. Sport needs to be a core subject like mathematics, physics and chemistry,” The Badminton legend added. ‘Focus Bihar’ Conclave is presented by the Bihar Sports Authority and Department of Sports, Government of Bihar. The Associate Sponsor is Indian Oil Corporation Limited, while State Bank of India is the Banking Partner.