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Clean sport in classrooms: India and UNESCO sign MoU for values toolkit in 13 languages

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Editor's note: This follows our 28 October report on the UNESCO anti-doping meetings in New Delhi. It covers the classroom MoU signed a day later at NADA's Clean Sport Conclave.

Clean sport values will be taught in classrooms across India under a Memorandum of Understanding exchanged on Wednesday, 28 October 2026 between the Sports Ministry, the Education Ministry and UNESCO, the government said. The MoU covers the “Sports Values in Every Classroom Toolkit”.

clean sport: Photograph released by PIB from the Clean Sport Conclave in New Delhi
Photograph released by PIB from the Clean Sport Conclave in New Delhi Photo: PIB (Government of India, free to use with credit).

What the UNESCO clean sport MoU covers

The MoU was exchanged at the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) India’s Clean Sport Conclave in New Delhi. The toolkit aims to build values such as respect, integrity and fairness in children through education, sport and everyday classroom activities. Its video modules will be available in 13 Indian languages, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports said. Sports Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya and Education Minister Pralhad Joshi attended, along with Dr Tim Curtis, Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for South Asia, NADA Director General Anant Kumar and senior officials of both ministries. Javelin thrower Sachin Yadav also took part. Delegates from the UNESCO anti-doping meetings held on Tuesday attended the event. Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao and School Education Secretary T K Anil Kumar were among the officials present.

Key Facts

  • MoU: Sports Ministry, Education Ministry and UNESCO
  • Signed: 28 October 2026, NADA Clean Sport Conclave
  • Toolkit: Sports Values in Every Classroom
  • Languages: 13 Indian languages
  • NADA 2025-26: over 7,000 tests, 27,000 reached

“Sporting excellence and sporting integrity must go hand in hand.”

— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Sports Minister

Mansukh Mandaviya on NADA tests and new law

Dr Mandaviya said sporting excellence and sporting integrity “must go hand in hand”. He said NADA had conducted over 7,000 tests and more than 350 education and awareness sessions in 2025-26, reaching 27,000 participants. Supplement testing facilities at the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar and NIPER Hyderabad help prevent inadvertent doping, he said. He added that the National Anti-Doping Act came into force this year and that the government is preparing to bring provisions to criminalise doping-related activities before Parliament. He also referred to India’s fourth-place finishes at the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games. He added that investigations within NADA would be strengthened in line with global practices.

Pralhad Joshi and UNESCO on values in schools

Pralhad Joshi said the MoU would help close a long-standing gap between education and sport, noting that students who did well academically did not always take part in sports. He said the values in the toolkit should spread beyond classrooms. Dr Curtis called the MoU a new chapter in UNESCO’s partnership with India that could reach millions of young people and serve as a model for other countries. He said teachers would bring the values to life, adding that the real test is whether children play fairly “even when nobody is watching”. Joshi also stressed the need to strengthen grassroots opportunities and build better pathways for young athletes. “This MoU is an important step towards strengthening the connection between education and sports, which has been missing for a long time,” he said.

Why It Matters: Teaching fair play early could reduce doping in Indian sport, where NADA testing and a new law are already being tightened.

Also on TrendDesh: Anti-doping: Mandaviya says new law amendment will bring criminal provisions for violations · Asian Para Games 2026: SAI Gandhinagar honours medallists who won 16 of India's 114 medals

Source: PIB: Sports and Education Ministries sign MoU with UNESCO · UNESCO: Values education through sport · NADA India

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