AP & Telangana State Head – Anandam Dundi :-
In a major boost to its mission, Chess Network has received approval from the Telangana School Education department to roll out its programme in government schools. The initiative empowers the non-profit to distribute chess boards, train teachers and students and organise tournaments from the mandal to district level, marking a significant step toward integrating chess into the academic and co-curricular fabric of the State.
According to a proceeding issued on December 11 by Director of School Education and Ex-Officio State project director of Samagra Shiksha E. Naveen Nicolas, District Education Officers have been instructed to extend full cooperation. This includes sharing basic school and student-strength data for planning, identifying interested teachers or Physical Education Teachers (PETs) as coordinators, permitting distribution drives, training sessions, tournaments and camps, and allowing authorised Chess Network volunteers to operate on campus without disrupting regular academics.
The permission covers Telangana Model Schools, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) and all government schools in the State. Participation will remain voluntary and aligned with departmental guidelines.
Chess Network, founded and largely supported by NRIs, has been promoting chess for the holistic development of students. It has already distributed thousands of boards and trained teachers in Mahabubnagar and a few other districts. It now plans to expand the programme statewide.
Chess Network president Sanjay Kumar Gajjala submitted its proposal through seeking approval to scale its Mahbubnagar pilot across the State.
With formal approval now in place, the organisation is set to move quickly on logistics and training in partnership with district officials.
Chess Network founder Sudhir Kodati, an NRI, said, “We owe it to our dedicated team, volunteers, sponsors and the enthusiastic children who embraced the initiative. We thank the officials who supported us despite their heavy responsibilities. We are ready to scale up our efforts in all districts soon.”