Unemployed youths with degrees, diplomas and certificates in physical education across the state are upbeat over the stress on yoga and sports in the new National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

These youths with degrees of Bachelors in Physical Education (BPEd) to Diploma in Physical Education (DPEd) and Certificate in Physical Education (CPEd), are hoping the change would create more jobs for them.  

Presently, only those government-run primary and upper primary schools having 100 or above students enrolled in them have physical education instructors. These ‘part-time’ instructors get only Rs 7,000 per month against Rs 42,000 and above that assistant teachers get.   

“The state government had started recruitment of 32,022 physical education instructors for even those schools with less than 100 students on September 19, 2016 but those recruitments are stuck in litigations,” said Anuj Singh, a job aspirant with BPEd degree.  

“Back then, around 1.54 lakh aspirants had applied for this recruitment. We have been fighting for the completion of this recruitment process and for recruitment of full-time physical education assistant teachers in government schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act-2009 for several years now,” said Pankaj Yadav, an aspirant and the district president of BPEd Sangharsh Morcha.  

He said that on September 1, 2015, during a demonstration in support of their demands, many of the unemployed youths with physical education degrees, diplomas and certificates were injured during a lathi charge near the Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow.  

State president of BPEd Sangharsh Morcha Dhirendra Yadav said they were hopeful that recruitments of full-time physical education teachers in around 1.59 lakh government schools would begin soon.