To broaden the accessibility of football in the country, the Union Education Ministry in collaboration with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has launched an ambitious Football for Schools (F4S) programme.
As part of this programme, more than 11 lakh FIFA footballs will be distributed throughout the country in a phased manner. Besides, over 1.50 lakh schools will benefit from this initiative.
On February 9, 2024, 6,848 footballs were distributed to 1,260 schools in 17 districts of Odisha. The footballs were distributed from Nodal district Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) with the presence of local dignitaries from various fields.
Understanding F4S programme
The marquee initiative aims to significantly broaden the football outreach for students within the schools in India. Further, the F4S programme seamlessly aims to integrate soccer-related activities into the education system in collaboration with various stakeholders.
The kick-off of the distribution of balls was launched by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on December 2, 2023, from JNV Cuttack, Odisha. Further, the footballs were distributed in the districts of Angul, Dhenkanal and Deogarh in Odisha; and Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in a phased manner.
Earlier, an MoU was inked between the Ministry of Education, AIFF and FIFA on 30 October 2022 with Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya as the Nodal organization.
To bolster capacity building, recently the department conducted a master training programme at 3 venues at Sambalpur, Pune and Bengaluru where around 300 physical education teachers/trainees from states/UTs, KVS, NVS and AIFF across India participated.
Importantly, the program further aims to contribute to the education, development, and empowerment of around 700 million children across the world.