There was much noise about the large number of ‘appeal’ entries at the 57th State School Arts Festival, which concluded here on Monday. So much so, many students, parents and teachers were beginning to get concerned.
Since appealing against the verdict was the only option left for a student who might have been the victim of unfair judgement at the lower level, doing away with the very system would signal the end of the road to the State festival to many talented contestants. Education Minister C. Ravindranath, however, has said that there is no such plan.
“When thousands of students come to the State festival through the appeal route, it causes problems on the organisational front, but this government does not want to deprive a deserving student a fair opportunity,” the Minister told The Hindu . “So the option for appeal will stay; students need not be concerned.”
He said the intention should not be to suppress appeals, but to reduce it by ensuring better judgement. “We have to find out how we can improve the quality of judges at the lower level,” he said. “We will discuss that in detail in the coming days, when the government will interact with people connected with the school festival,” he said. “The discussions on the changes required for the festival’s manual have already begun here at Kannur; I met journalists and sought their views.”
Mr. Ravindranath said a suggestion came up in that meeting that the festival could be split into three. “It was only a suggestion, but some reports in the media said that it was a decision,” he said. “No such decision has been taken.”
Mr. Ravindranath stressed that it was only after consultations with representatives from all the stakeholders, including, experts in various art forms, teachers and the media that the government would make the changes. “It will be done in a most dramatic way,” he said. “We will conduct next year’s festival at Thrissur according to the new manual.”
He said he was delighted that the festival at Kannur was a huge success. “I was amazed by the enthusiasm the people of Kannur showed and the hard work and coordination shown by the teachers on the organising committee,” he said.
The Minister said he was concerned when the BJP called for a hartal in the middle of the festival. “We feared people might not turn up; we may have even have to extend the festival by a day, which would have been really difficult,” he said. “But the people of Kannur came out in large numbers and the organisers ensured that everything was in place.”
