Putting the sports in Pakistan’s universities, right, is indeed a tall order. But it won’t be solved by simply undertaking expensive exercises
THE Higher Education Commission (HEC), which replaced the University Grants Commission (UGC) over two years ago, is very enthusiastically and keenly promoting sports. To this end, last year it organized the first Pakistan Universities Games in Islamabad. However, such an expensive exercise might not have helped achieved its desired goal as the organizational sports-structures of almost all the universities in the country stands collapsed.
According to press reports, the HEC will be holding the second edition of the Pakistan Universities Games from April 5-11 this year in Islamabad with a bigger scale of participation. Eight qualifying universities — two each from the eight zonal competitions, will compete in 18 events, including six for women.
The 12 men events for the April games are athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cricket, football, hockey, rowing, squash, table tennis, tennis and volleyball.
The women events include athletics, badminton, basketball, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. Last year in all 16 events, including six for women, were contested. This year, boxing and rowing have been included in the itinerary, despite the fact that previously both the sports had failed to attract little attention in the occasional inter-universities tournaments.
The HEC has assured the funding for the inter-zonal universities tournaments and the eight qualifying universities will be provided free accommodation, food and transportation in Islamabad. The universities will bear only the travelling expenses of their teams. The eight zonal tournaments will be contested by 64 public and private sector universities at different centres and the tournaments will be completed by March 25.
Moreover, on the instruction of the HEC, provincial universities sports galas, to be contested by both the public and private sector universities, will also be held at the four provincial capitals — Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta.
Karachi University is organizing the Sindh Universities Sports Gala from February 8 and the events to be contested are athletics (men and women), table tennis (men and women), football, badminton (men and women) and shooting ball. Similar sporting extravaganzas will be held in the provincial capitals of Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan before the commencement of the inter-university competitions.
The HEC’s sports promotion programme involves heavy expenditures and there seems to be a wrong assumption that lavish spending will promote sports that has already suffered a lot at the hands of those who carry the responsibility to promote healthy sporting activities in their jurisdiction. It is generally said and believed that most of the universities have enough funds, collected through games fee as well as having better playing facilities as compared to others. It is only their competitive standard that need a lot of improvement.
It is also said that sports funds are not being fully utilized for sports promotion as they are used for purposes other than sports activities.
Most of the universities lack proper sports facilities. In a number of universities, the gymnasiums have cemented floors that are very injurious. Built about three decades ago, the big indoor gymnasium of the University of Karachi also has the cemented floor considered harmful and injurious as it damages the muscles of those who play basketball, table tennis and badminton. There is a great need of getting the gymnasium floor converted into the wooden floor to provide the required indoor playing atmosphere for the students. The gymnasium is also in need of a face lift and renovation.
Many public sector universities have no proper playing facilities for their students. That is why a number of them choose to take part in only four to five games during any inter-varsity tournaments. No less than 26 men’s sports and nine for women’s events are on the list of inter-university tournaments. But a good number of them are not staged regularly as the universities are not interested in such games. The administrators of these games should at least revise the list and only those games should be included that must have the participation of at least 20 universities.
The men’s events (26) includes athletics, badminton, basketball, bodybuilding, boxing, cricket, football, handball, hike, hockey, judo, karate, kabaddi, malh, rifle shooting, rowing, skiing, swimming, water polo, rowing, squash, shooting ball, table tennis, tug of water, trekking and chess.
Women events (nine) are athletics, badminton, basketball, hockey, handball, rangering, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. Moreover, the selected HEC teams, who by the way have been competing at various national championships of different games as well as in the National Games for a considerably long time, are giving highly disappointing performances. It certainly requires immediate attention by concerned authorities who should take positive steps to ensure better performances from all the competing universities under the banner of the HEC.
It is high time that university sports should be put on the right track instead of simply holding these sports galas. This is indeed a waste of public money as the money can be utilized for badly needed infrastructures in most of the universities.
There is hardly any need of holding such competitions with the HEC funding when the inter-universities tournaments are held annually in various games. There is an urgent need for appointing an independent five-member committee to review the Pakistan University Sports Board’s (PUSB) constitution which was approved by the University Grants Commission (now the HEC) at its meeting held in Islamabad on December 18, 1990.
The PUSB constitution needs amendment under the prevailing objective conditions and participation of 20 universities in least in 10 games should be made mandatory. We need strengthening of the inter-universities competition under the PUSB constitution. Therefore, the present HEC sports exercise, it is generally said, is considered a violation of the PUSB constitution.
Putting the sports in Pakistan’s universities, right, is indeed a tall order. But it won’t be solved by simply undertaking expensive exercises
