DOHA (Qatar): The opening ceremony of 13th School Olympic Program (SOP) will be held at Aspire Zone on Monday.
The SOP, which is a national programme that covers all the Qatari schools, will be held in the next six months.
The competition is held annually as a collaborative effort of Qatar School Sports Association (QSSA) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
The SOP aims to spread a culture of sports throughout the schools and engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.
Last year’s edition featured 12 sports — football, basketball, volleyball, handball, tennis, table tennis, fencing, gymnastics, athletics, swimming, chess and taekwondo.
This year’s events will feature students compete in 12 sports in the boys section and 13 in the girl’s.
The SOP goes in line with other initiatives undertaken by Qatar as part of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Last year, 333 schools took part in various school competitions and saw 14,700 students taking part in the various disciplines.
