Chess to be introduced in Tribal schools to improve learning outcomes

In an effort to strengthen academic outcomes among tribal students, the Tribal Welfare Department is set to introduce chess as a learning tool in Government Tribal Residential Schools and Eklavya Model Residential Schools across the State under its administrative control.

The initiative will begin next academic year. The Department has initiated steps to train physical education teachers to integrate chess into classroom learning. Recently, the department, in association with FIDE Chess in Education (CIE) and Emmanuel Chess Centre, organised a three-day workshop at Madras Christian College for teachers from these schools.

A total of 42 teachers from tribal schools participated in the workshop. Rita Atkins, Women’s International Master, and Ebinezer Joseph, Senior Lead Instructor of the FIDE CIE Commission, introduced the structure and educational value of chess to the teachers. Last year, the department gave training in chess to 22 teachers.

Official sources said the use of chess to support learning outcomes of students in tribal schools is not entirely new. In some schools, teachers have voluntarily introduced the game to improve academic engagement of students.

M. Thangadurai, Physical Education Teacher at the Government Tribal Residential School in Arnoothumalai in Salem district, has been conducting chess classes every Monday evening. He said that after the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai in 2022, he began teaching chess to tribal students. The school also organised in-house chess competitions. He said he observed improvement in students’ concentration and thinking ability after they began playing chess.

Officials said the Department has now decided to train more teachers and expand the initiative in a structured manner. G. Laxmi Priya, Secretary, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, said the objective is to make chess a means of learning and to improve students’ cognitive ability. She said the department has planned to provide special focus on strengthening chess clubs in these schools from the next academic year. It also plans to conduct interschool competitions and assess students’ learning outcomes following the introduction of chess.