Gurugram, May 17- Early results from Haryana’s pioneering Sports Life Skills Framework pilot suggest that sports may offer one of the most practical and scalable ways for schools across India to build and measure essential life skills among students.
The framework, developed by Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association and accredited by [The CPD Group UK](https://thecpd.group?utm_
Unlike conventional life skills programmes that are often delivered through classroom discussions, this model uses sports as the primary teaching medium. Students first participate in guided sports activities in which teachers intentionally facilitate a targeted life skill—such as Collaboration or Decision-Making—through carefully designed games and exercises. During these sessions, students practise the behaviours in real situations, engage in structured reflection, and receive feedback from trained teachers.
Only after this sports-based learning process is completed do students take a scenario-based assessment to measure how well they have understood and internalized the behavioural concepts.
Strong Early Results from Haryana Schools
The first round of pilot assessments conducted in Haryana schools has produced highly encouraging outcomes.
Collaboration Module – Class 7
In one pilot involving more than 270 students, the average score was nearly 17 out of 20, with over 80% of students achieving Proficient or Advanced competency levels.
Decision-Making Module – Class 8
In another pilot involving nearly 100 students, the average score was approximately 18 out of 20, with more than 90% of students reaching Proficient or Advanced levels.
Across both pilots, students demonstrated strong understanding of practical behaviours such as:
Sharing responsibility
Coordinating with teammates
Evaluating options before acting
Anticipating consequences
Responding constructively to others
These findings suggest that when life skills are taught intentionally through sports, students are able to understand and articulate these behaviours with the same clarity and measurability as academic outcomes.
A New Role for Physical Education
A distinctive feature of the initiative is the structured role assigned to PE teachers. Through CPD-aligned training, teachers are equipped with lesson plans, behavioural cue sheets, student reflection tools, and assessment systems that allow them to facilitate and monitor life skills development during regular sports periods.
This positions Physical Education not merely as a co-curricular activity, but as a strategic component of holistic education.
Behavioural Intelligence for School Management
The framework also incorporates a Business Intelligence layer that converts assessment data into executive dashboards, competency band distributions, gender comparisons, and student Holistic Performance Card reports.
This enables principals and school leaders to monitor behavioural development in a structured and evidence-based manner, similar to academic performance tracking.
Aligned with NEP 2020
The initiative supports the broader goals of India’s National Education Policy 2020, which emphasizes competency-based learning, experiential education, and holistic student development.
By embedding life skills within existing sports periods, the model allows schools to implement these priorities without increasing academic load or altering their timetable.
Looking Ahead
Following the strong early outcomes, interest is growing among school groups across multiple states. The pilot results suggest that sports could become one of the most effective and scalable platforms available to schools for developing measurable life skills.
Dr. Kanthi D. Suresh, President of HIPSA and founder of the Sports Life Skills Framework, said the initiative is built on a simple but powerful idea: every sports period can become an opportunity to build behaviours that help young people succeed not only in competition, but in classrooms, careers, and life.
> “The early pilot data indicates that when sport is delivered intentionally, it can become one of the most effective and scalable platforms for developing measurable life skills in schools.”
With Haryana leading the way, the Sports Life Skills Framework may signal a significant shift in how schools across India view the educational value of sport.
