PESHAWAR
Arshad Hussain, Assistant Professor of Health and Physical Education (BS-18) at Government College Peshawar, has been transferred and posted as Inspector Physical Education and Deputy Director Sports in the Directorate of Higher Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The sports circles congratulated Arshad Hussain, a former international handball player, and Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Throw Ball Association, for his new assignment and expressed the hope that he (Arshad) would do his best for the revival of sports activities in male and male colleges all across the province.
Hailing from a remote village of District Nowshera (Pabbi), Arshad Hussain is the only official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who participate in International Olympic Committee (IOC) Handball International Course two times and represented Pakistan in the International Mini-HandBall Course in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Arshad has the honor of representing Pakistan as Manger Handball Junior team in IHF trophy Bangladesh 2010 besides acting as Manger Pakistan Throw Ball team in World Championship-2019 and Manager Pakistan Throw Ball team in Students Olympics Games in Malaysia in 2017 and 2020.
Arshad also worked as Director Development in the Directorate of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Deputy Director in Directorate of Youth Affairs KP.
Arshad Hussain has experience in organizing various sports at Inter-College level and was part of the organizing committee of the 31st National Games, 9th South Asian Games, 33rd National Games besides many other events during his 20-year association with the field of sports.
When contacted, Arshad Hussain said that the lack of interest of the educational institution and giving proper facilities to the students is a big reason for the downfall of sports in Pakistan. He said, in sporting terms, the term grassroots is oftentimes understood by defining what it is not— specifically, performance-oriented or commercially driven varieties of sport. The grassroots is foundational, local-level, community-driven, and primarily recreational.
He said it is clearly visible to all related to sports in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that there are less participation of boys and girls colleges in the Inter-College competitions that should be made compulsory because every college is charging sports money but when it comes to the participation, the management of the college lack interest in that.
It is a legitimate right of every student, both male and female, to utilize sports facilities, Arshad Hussain said. He said two or three colleges in a single event is a routine at the Inter-College competitions which we have to take notice of because the government is providing sufficient funds to the public sector colleges but the college management are least bothered to ensure sports competitions for their respective students.
The government and governmental organizations constitute the public sector of the sports industry, which is responsible for making sports policies, allocating grants for developing infrastructure, nurturing talents and designing specialized programs for overall development of sports.
He said the teaching staff or lecturer of physical education need to be updated about the ever changing rules of the Games for which he has in mind to hold refreshers courses so that they could teach the students about much updated rules and regulation of various Games.
Sport policy refers to the formal rules and regulations of a sport organization (or government) which are intended to guide employee actions. A sport policy is an outline of the direction a sport should take, according to makers of a policy, Arshad Hussain said.
When asked how to revive sports, he said, adequate provision of sports goods and playing facilities should be ensured for girl schools and colleges too. Women should also be ensured access to other sports facilities outside the education system. Efforts should be made to promote a variety of sports, especially those that can be played without too much cost, he explained.
He said, promotion of sports is important in school and colleges to create healthy minds. Sports activities could enhance mental as well as physical health of the students because healthy minds could play a role in the development of the country.
