In South Sumatra, All Schools Must Introduce Traditional Sports

JAKARTA - The Provincial Government of South Sumatra (Sumsel) requires schools of all levels of education to introduce traditional sports to all students to preserve the local wisdom of the archipelago.

The Head of the South Sumatra Education Office, Riza Fahlevi, Friday, May 13, said the traditional sport is a variety of games that contain elements of the original physical exercise of the local community or adopted from other regions.

The variety of games that are categorized as traditional sports include Stone Jumping, Cak Engkeleng, Forts, bidar boat rowing or martial arts.

The Education Office designs these games before they are taught by sports teachers to students so that they can fulfill the educational elements.

"All schools down to the village level must promote traditional sports, so that the game does not become extinct. It is designed to lean towards educational content, even if it is required to be extracurricular or at least held during a 'class meeting' at the end of every semester," he said, Friday, May 13.

According to Riza, in addition to gaining knowledge, the government hopes that through the introduction of traditional sports in schools, students can also participate in the Fornas VI (National Recreational Sports Festival) event which will be held in South Sumatra in July 2022.

"We really hope that the involvement of our students in the Fornas VI event later, especially as participants, or can also become volunteers, considering that this year we are the hosts," he said.