The Hindu : Front Page : Festivals should promote healthy competition: VS

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Wednesday, Dec 31, 2008
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Festivals should promote healthy competition: VS

Staff Reporter

49th Kerala School Kalotsavam gets off to a colourful start

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Traditional start: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan inaugurating the 49th Kerala State School Kalotsavam in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Curtains went up on the 49th Kerala School Kalotsavam on Tuesday with a formal inauguration by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at Putharikandam Maidan here.

The seven-day event is the first in the State to bring together higher secondary, vocational higher secondary and school-level youth festivals.

Mr. Achuthanandan, in his inaugural address, said local bodies and Parent Teachers’ Associations (PTAs) should come forward to encourage and help talented students from the economically weaker sections of society. “Many talented youngsters are not able to participate in youth festivals because of financial difficulties. This problem can be solved with the help of PTAs and local bodies,” he said. The Chief Minister said youth festivals should not be the place for unhealthy competitions.

Education Minister M.A. Baby presided over the inaugural function in which poet O.N.V. Kurup was the chief guest.

“This is the first ‘kalotsavam’ to be conducted as per the revised manual. For long, we had been following a rather unfair and unhealthy practice of bestowing all credit on one or two contestants by declaring Kalathilakams and Kalaprathibhas, based on marginal differences in the score attained. But the new grading system will acknowledge the talents of all those who perform exceptionally well,” Mr. Baby said. He said the revised manual laid emphasis on making youth festivals a celebration of young talent.

The Minister also requested the participants not to go after appeals frivolously and to uphold the spirit of sportsmanship.

Earlier, students from city schools took out a colourful procession to the venue.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vijayakumar; Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran; Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP; V. Sivankutty, G. Karthikeyan, George Mercier, J. Arundhathi, M.A. Wahid, Varkala Kahar and N. Rajan, MLAs; Mayor C. Jayan Babu; district panchayat president Anavoor Nagappan and District Collector Sanjay Kaul were also present.

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