TRADITIONALLY, sports used to be an integral part of our educational system.

Annual sports competitions were a source of excitement for the students as they used to feel proud of being part of the various teams. There used to be a strong competition in educational institutions against seats reserved for sportsmen, and the best were selected after due trials.

Many of these competitors subsequently performed creditably at national and international levels.

At least on paper, a similar process is still present in most institutions, but it is unable to produce results at any level because the education system is divided into public and private sectors. The latter has emerged strongly over the last three decades, while the former has lost out on account of inefficient management.

The private sector remains interested only in producing position-holders in board examinations. It does not invest in `unprofitable` fields, like sports.

Indeed, it is rare to find a private-sector institution with some dedicated area for field sports. Sports in schools, colleges and universities represented a great nursery for producing future stars. With this nursery having dried up, our achievements in the domain of international sports have taken a nosedive as well, which is understandable.

The most obvious example of this phenomenon is hockey, our national game, in which Pakistan was world`s number one team, but is today ranked 18th. It happened because the nurseries failed to produce replacements for the ageing stars.

We can still turn the tide by focussing on the sporting nurseries in educational institutions. Things may not change overnight, but there is no other way to claw our way back up in international sports.

Tariq Mahmood Khan Faisalabad