Developing Monitoring and Evaluating Life Skills Learnt Through Sports in Underprivileged Children

Abstract

Sports is a magical method to get people together, interact, build links and get immersed in the newlineactivity, forgetting the problems or the conditions they may be undergoing. Underprivileged newlinechildren come from difficult or troubled families, families facing various types of problems or they newlinecould be homeless orphans, those left to live on the streets, the poor who cannot meet the basic newlinenecessities of life, those suffering from malnutrition and other health issues and those who are not newlineprivileged to be educated. A section of these children also includes HIV- positive children. HIVpositive newlinechildren are at a far more disadvantageous situation as they are not only infected by the newlinedeadly virus but have to face stigma and discrimination from the society (Freeman, Nkomo, newlineKafaar, and Kelly, 2007). Sports not only develops their physical health, but also helps them keep newlineaway from trouble, grow with self-confidence, self-worth and self-belief which helps them newlineeventually in their personal, social and work life. newlineLife skills training acts as a means that would prepare the current generation for constantly newlinechanging conditions and to overcome the challenges faced by every adolescent. Life skills learnt newlinethrough sports are easily understandable and easy to explain. This results in better transfer of these newlinelife skills for use in other situations in life. While efforts have been made to make life skills newlineeducation widespread in the education system in India, the desired outcome has not been achieved newlineand effective life skills education is found to be wanting in many areas. One of the main problem newlineareas is proper integration into the education system while another is proper training of the newlineconcerned teachers (Singh and Sharma, Jan-June 2016). newlineThe purpose of this study is to develop a Life Skills Training Programme which would impart life newlineskills through the medium of sports to underprivileged children, to monitor the programme and to newlineevaluate its impact on the target group. newlineThe subjects for this study were HIV-infected children houses at Asr