Sports, dance, drama, music, arts, debate, creative writing and other “co-scholastic” activities are set to become an integral part of the curriculum in Madhyamik schools from next year.

The 12,000-odd schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education will offer students an equal opportunity to develop skills in co-scholastic activities and academics, announced Mamata Ray, the board president, on Friday.

According to the plan, training in co-scholastic activities will initially be offered to students from classes V to IX. Gradually, such training will be made mandatory for Madhyamik examinees.

Work education and physical education are currently taught in Madhyamik schools. Skills like electrical wiring are imparted in work education classes. Physical education is largely restricted to free-hand exercises. Sports and performing arts are not part of the Madhyamik curriculum now.

“We are preparing to introduce co-scholastic activities from the academic session beginning next year,” added Ray.

She was speaking at the concluding programme of a two-day national conference organised by the board to develop a framework for implementing the comprehensive continuous evaluation (CCE) scheme.

The scheme, which the Union ministry of human resource development wants every education board across the country to introduce, also emphasises on assessment of students’ co-scholastic abilities.

The aim is to ensure holistic growth of children and to properly channel their talent.

“In the modern concept of education, it is not necessary for every child to excel in academics. Our intention is to allow a child to develop his/her skills in various areas,” said Ray. She felt such an approach would foster team spirit and leadership qualities among children.

The co-scholastic skills of students will be regularly assessed just like their academic performance. But while both marks and grades would measure academic ability, only grades would be used to assess co-scholastic skills.

The board has decided to introduce a mechanism so that schools in a particular locality can share facilities with each other to open co-scholastic avenues before students.

Initially, the board does not intend to urge the government to recruit additional teachers to train students in co-scholastic activities. Instead, the board will identify teachers with the skills to impart training in co-scholastic activities from among those on the roll.

Some teachers in Madhyamik schools felt the board should give them enough time to prepare before they start training students in co-scholastic activities.