Mind sports require support at par with physical sports: Vice President

“No doubt, physical body has its limitations but the mind has unlimited capacity and this has to be tapped to its full potential,” he said addressing a delegation of the World Memory Sports Council for India, here on Tuesday.

This contingent has returned after bagging the fourth place at the World Memory Championships held last month at Shenzen, China.

The Vice President said that mind sports help students and youngsters greatly in improving their concentration levels, creativity and contribute to achieving success in life.

“We need to move to analytical and logical thinking skills, not merely focus on rote learning and memorizing. Concept formation and understanding are important,” he said.

Talking about the need of a holistic education system, the Vice President said that rote mode of learning, high expectations from parents, increasing competition and eagerness of educational institutions to get top ranks are causing stress and anxiety among students.

“It is really sad to come across reports of suicides by students, who are unable to cope with stress,” said M Venkaiah Naidu.

“Time has come for the institutions, governments and the society at large to prevent such suicides by extending support and comfort to distressed students. Under the rote system, they simply memorize to write examinations without understanding the basic concepts,” he added.

The Vice President said that there is a need for every Indian to learn these memory techniques and practice these memory sports on regular basis to have a healthy state of mind.

“If students can learn and master memory techniques, they can work smarter and leave them with more time for other extra-curricular activities, thus ultimately contributing to their all-round development,” he said.