Comparative effects of senior secondary physical education curricula on holistic adolescent development: A multi board longitudinal study in hyderabad, telangana

Abstract

The role of physical education in schools is a debate
that goes on; however, the necessity of these classes
is not a question for all students. In the city of
Hyderabad, we conducted a two year longitudinal
study in order to analyze the effects of physical
education classes during senior secondary school in
three different boards, namely, CBSE, State Board,
and ICSE on the overall holistic development of the
students. We evaluated their physical fitness, daily
activity, mental health, social skills, and academic
performance. Among the most significant findings
was the curriculum design which incorporated the
provision of playtime, teacher’s quality, etc. that
had a tremendous impact on students’ outcomes. To
illustrate, the boards with a more hands on
approach to practical activities were noted to have
larger gains in fitness and emotional well being.Our
study has indicated that the Ministry of
Education’s adv ise about the need for educational
programs to be consistent across the different
board of education is right. The implementation of
this recommendation would mean that every
student irrespective of the board in which their
school belongs wouldn’t miss out on the
opportunity of growing and developing physically,
mentally, and socially through the physical
education classes.