No band-aid approach

It was a welcome relief last week to learn that there has been some efforts to resolve the impasse between the Ministries of Education and Sports. Long overdue it is, but better little late than never.{{more}}

The stand off among officials of the two ministries has been going on for a little over a year, and saw a virtual regression in school sports, to the point that the eulogy was already being prepared. The students, on the other hand, had resigned themselves to orphan status, as the untenable situation dragged on.

Whilst glad that moves are being made to put up the detour signs, one wonders if it is a case of a marriage of convenience because of parental pressure, or an instance of genuine kiss and make up.

With the platform set for a road towards reconciliation, those who were keeping check of the ongoing happenings should give the parties concerned the benefit of any doubt which they may harbour. They may just mean well and are truly repentant of their transgressions. It may also serve those who have brokered the deal to really take a deep look at the real issue, as no band aid approach will work.

If there are impurities to be cut out, do so, rather than cover it with gauze, while the sores remain untreated.

In cases like these, there will be casualties, once the proper medication is administered.

They must also ensure that measures are put in place to avoid a re-occurrence of what transpired over the past months.

If this is not done, one of the major players could very well wake up one morning and decide not to pull his or her weight in the process because of some personality issues.

The authorities must also ensure that never again are those large square pegs placed in the very tiny round holes, especially in school sports.

The issues at hand and what caused the fall out, as everyone is well aware, are not covered by the Memorandum of Understanding, as no provisions can be made for one’s personality and ego.

However, a sincere commitment to one’s role in the development of sports and physical education, in the schools, which hopefully will in turn translate to a national product.

Issues as to who comes from the rural parts of this blessed nation, and who was born in the urban, are archaic, to say the least, and must be put away eternally.

So, too, must be the boastings of who supports which political party and who has more clout politically than the other.

Similarly, the thoughts of malice, spite and being vindictive should exist no more. You should now strip yourselves of these and become clothed in humility.

The major players should become more mature to accept constructive criticism of their operations as occasions to up their level of efficiency and interpersonal relationships.

But the news that we are going to have school sports competitions in the next term does not really quell the hard core problems faced in the educational institutions here.

Competitions are the mere products of what is the true meaning of Physical Education and Sports in the nation’s schools, not the solutions to the deep rooted causes.

Government, through its educational and sporting arms, should take that political pathway of making sports in the schools and a nation as a whole a development tool rather than recreational activities. Those who are in position to assist the two ministries in the transformation, re-organisation and rebirth of school sports must do so with the nation’s youth at the centrality of their actions.

Schools’ sporting activities and the development of the physical beings of our youth cannot be overly emphasized, as their contributions are immeasurable.

No band aid approach is also needed for that obstruction, called the Mound at the Sion Hill Playing Field.