Page 54 - Sportability

been immense growth in his confidence and social • Empathy and mindset – 98 percent of our
skills, and he now aims to solve the whole cube. mainstream students have displayed empathy by
signing up again for our inclusive programme.
• Coach – The role of a teacher or mentor is as
important as a robust curriculum. We train young • Growth over key developmental milestones - Our
sports enthusiasts and physical educators in children have displayed a 42 percent improvement
adapted sports. We work closely with teachers and in coordination and agility over a year and a 38
special educators in implementing the programme percent increase in their strength and stamina.
to lead a two-way learning process.
• On average, 62 percent of the children showcase
To showcase the role of a mentor in the life of a child, an increase of 1.5 level on a scale of 5 in their sports
the story of Priyanka is a wonderful example. Priyanka skills in football, basketball, and athletics.
is our athlete with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
She was quite temperamental and would only come • Through our surveys, 85 percent of teachers have
to the playground with the teacher’s support. She also observed that children have displayed higher
engaged in play with the support of the teacher. Our retention of academic skills in class.
team worked to understand her needs and likes and
made her feel comfortable, thereby, creating a safe Role of sports and play in Inclusive Education
space for her. Over time, Priyanka started to love to play As outlined in the NEP 2020, sports integration is
and now she performs activities independently with another cross-curricular pedagogical approach that
minimal support and takes charge of her learning. She utilizes physical activities, including sports, games,
has started taking a liking to football and repeatedly and movement, in pedagogical practices to help in
asks for her favorite drills to be played developing skills, such as collaboration, self-initiative,
discipline, teamwork, responsibility, etc.
• Culture - Through our unique ‘Buddy’ system, we
build empathy and inclusion by bringing together Designing programs with inclusion as an underlying
children with and without disabilities to participate and binding theme is to help develop a climate of
and play as a team. We pair up a child with a disability acceptance and understanding so that all individuals
with lower skills or advanced limitations along get the opportunity to be physically active in schools
with another child with or without a disability with and communities. Through our programs, we reduce
higher skills to create an additional support system this barrier. A change of attitude is required which can
for children to encourage them to participate as be brought about by education and disability simulation
‘buddies’. We also provide positive reinforcement, an activities and games.
incentivized system to create a culture where every
buddy pair performing and showcasing the best We envision our programmes supporting teachers,
teamwork is rewarded with extra playtime parents, and caregivers to create a mindset change,
build their knowledge and skills to help introduce
We have observed how children started supporting virtues of play and sports as hands-on learning and
each other not just on the field but also off it. This is an support them in facilitating inclusive culture.
encouraging start to building an inclusive culture, and
an inclusive society.

Over the years, through program monitoring and
evaluation, we have observed the following growth in
our children:

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