Students take the chess route to sharpen their skills
TNN | Nov 5, 2012, 06.27AM IST
BELGAUM: This November, thousands of school students in Belgaum are set to sharpen their thinking and improve their IQ.
Chess is the new mantra the education department is chanting to enhance students’ concentration. All the 1,400 schools in Belgaum have been directed to observe November as ‘Chess Month’. Deputy director of public instruction Diwakar Shetty has instructed block education officers (BEOs) and school heads to purchase at least two chessboards, and ensure that children are taught chess during the time allotted for games.
“Students of Class V already have a lesson on chess, so it should not be difficult for them to understand the game. When this was brought to the notice of primary and secondary education minister Visveswar Hegde Kageri, he gave us the green signal. As far as the cost is concerned, it will be meager,” Shetty said.
The students from class four to 10 will benefit the most from this. Belgaum city BEO A B Pundalik said he plans to call a meeting of all the head masters to brief them about the programme.
Given the numerous studies that have indicated the benefits of playing chess, psychiatrists also feel the programme would benefit children. “A number of studies in the West have shown that playing chess aids not only early development of the brain but also helps build character and contributes to overall classroom performance. Chess helps to elaborate exact methods of thinking. It also improves concentration and enhances skills of visualisation by imagining a sequence of actions before it happens” said psychiatrist Dr Rajendra Kumar Katte.
Gujarat and Tamil Nadu governments have already introduced chess in the school curriculum.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Great for chess.