Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, on behalf of the Ministry of Education signed an MoU in Mumbai on Sunday with FIFA and All India Football Federation for the ‘Football4Schools’ initiative in India. FIFA President, Gianni Infantino and President, All India Football Federation, Kalyan Chaubey signed the MoU on behalf of respective organizations. Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Youth Affairs & Sports, Nisith Pramanik; Minister for School Education and Marathi Language- Maharashtra Deepak Kesarkar; Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti Vinayak Garg & officials of All India Football Federation were also present on the occasion.
MoU signing between @EduMinOfIndia and #AIFF for @FIFAcom’s #Football4Schools programme. https://t.co/EpH6SWYGU0
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) October 30, 2022
Speaking on the occasion,Dharmendra Pradhan said that sports has been given a place of pride in NEP 2020 and the Football 4 Schools program espouses the spirit of NEP2020. Sports has been given a place of pride in NEP 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid emphasis on mainstreaming of sports with education and Football4Schools program is a step towards translating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making sports as a way of life as well as creating well-rounded citizens, he further added.
He expressed his happiness that FIFA, All India Football Federation and Ministry of Education, GoI through this MoU on the sidelines of U-17 WWC are collaborating together to promote football and also equip the young learners with valuable life skills.
Dharmendra Pradhan said that football is an immensely popular sport and the Football4Schools program uses it as a positive tool to inspire children and ensure their holistic development. He further said that ‘Football4Schools’ aims to empower 25 million young boys and girls in India through sports-integrated learning.
Gianni Infantino said before signing the MoU, “I very much believe in India’s potential. India is a great nation, it is a continent in itself with lots of skills and not just in football of course. The most important thing is the heart and passion that the country has. We need that in football.
“I am proud and happy for this partnership with the Government of India and the AIFF. We will be investing in education and schools. We believe that playing any sport is important at an early age. It teaches you the values of many important things in live. We want the best players in the world to come from India,” said Mr. Infantino. “You have the population, skills, and the ability to unleash that potential. Through the values of sports, I am sure we will see some fantastic results in the future.”
Benefits of Football for Schools Programme:
-Empower learners (boys and girls) with valuable life skills and competencies
-Empower and provide coach-educators with the training to deliver sport and life-skills activities
-Build the capacity of stakeholders (Schools, Member Associations and public authorities) to deliver training in life skills through football
-Strengthen the cooperation between governments and participating schools to enable partnerships, alliances and intersectoral collaboration.
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Bengali