Being marginalised and undervalued since long, the discipline of physical education at colleges across the country continues to be in a state of sheer neglect.

Physical education is noticed and heard only at the time of college admission for those students who opt it when they miserably fail to get enrolled in various even average subjects.

Ever since the creation of Pakistan, physical education colleges have not seen an increase in their number, except Punjab that has only two physical education colleges, one for boys and one for girls, all three provinces have a single college each.

Physical education suffers a low subject status and esteem and is not accepted at par with seemingly superior academic subjects concerned with developing a child’s intellect, says Dr. Azmat Rasool, an educationist.

The Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) Colleges (Punjab), an attached department of HEC, which assists government to regulate its policies, assess the needs and requirements of the colleges and provision of funds and staff, is clueless on the withering status of physical education.

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DPI (Punjab) Director, Prof Khalid, tells TNS that out of 590 colleges, 118 commerce colleges, around 10 medical colleges in the public sector and 1500 colleges (registered) in private sector have no priority for physical education.

The status of physical education can be gauged by going through the case of a once-known college for physical education located in the Qaddafi stadium. Dating back to 1940, the College of Physical education was fully functional. After partition, till 1964 it worked well and produced legendary instructors and Olympians, including Mian Rafiq, Abdul Khalik Khan and others. In 2007, it was changed into Government College Gulberg for Boys.

Prof. Shafkat Rasool, Principal Government College Gulberg laments the unwanted transformation, saying it was a purely politically-motivated decision disregarding the opinion of physical educationists and experts over the issue. "Still, the college offers the subject of physical education and trainings but that is not up to the mark," he says.

He says the discipline of physical education demands latest equipment as well as other facilities -- laboratories, fitness machines, latest devices and different apparatuses while in Pakistan the situation is the opposite.

Among others, there are also social, cultural and religious constrains for girls in the field of physical education. Such taboos are so engrossed in the system that chances of growth will remain dim.