Tamil Nadu schools to give PT and activities a place five days a week

Tamil Nadu has issued a revised school timetable that sets aside time for physical education and co-curricular activities on five days of every school week. School Education Minister A. Rajmohan released it on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, and said it was issued on the orders of Chief Minister Joseph Vijay. Each week, schools must hold three periods led by physical education teachers and two periods for co-curricular activities, and those two can also be turned into extra physical education periods. Reports said the change followed students' requests for more time for physical activity.

In many Indian schools, the games period is the first to go. When board exams approach or the syllabus falls behind, physical education and art periods are often quietly handed to maths or science teachers. A timetable issued by the state, with a fixed number of periods each week, makes it harder to drop sport and activity time without anyone noticing.

Regular activity time also matters for reasons beyond fitness: team games teach co-operation and how to handle losing, which classrooms rarely do. For many children from poorer homes, school is also the only place with an open ground, equipment and a trained coach. Guaranteeing that time five days a week gives them a chance to play that they may not get anywhere else.

The minister's statement on inclusion is significant in itself. By saying explicitly that no child may be kept out of sport because of caste, religion or colour, the department has made fair access part of the policy, not only the number of periods. It gives students and parents a clear standard to point to if a school or coach excludes someone.

The real test will be in the schools. A timetable is only as good as the staff and space to deliver it. Schools without a physical education teacher, or with a small or no playground, will find it hard to run three or more sports periods a week in a meaningful way. How the department supports such schools, and whether it checks that periods are actually held, will decide whether the change reaches every child.

Short-term: Schools across Tamil Nadu must rework their weekly timetables to fit in three physical education periods and two co-curricular periods, and principals will need to ensure these are not used for other subjects.

Long-term: If followed, the timetable could improve children's fitness and wellbeing, widen participation in sport, and help the state find young sporting talent earlier. It may also increase demand for trained physical education teachers and better playgrounds.

Who is affected: Students in Tamil Nadu schools, physical education and class teachers, head teachers who plan timetables, and parents.

Questions and Answers