With 351 points, Kozhikode city sub district won the overall championship (High School category) at the 57th edition of the Kozhikode Revenue District School Arts Festival that concluded at JDT Islam Higher Secondary School on Sunday. Koyilandy sub district finished a close second with 350 points.
In the Higher Secondary School category too, Kozhikode city won the title. In the Upper Primary category , Chevayur relished success by securing the overall championship with 155 points. Balussery finished second with 142 points.
Inaugurating the valedictory session, MP and former Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran said the tendency to turn school festivals into a platform for competition among parents should end. There should also be attempts to restrict huge investments in the sector that would only turn away financially backward students from the cultural field, he added.
Presenting special cash awards to students who displayed outstanding performance at the festival, MLA and former Minister for Panchayats M.K. Muneer said parents should treat school festivals as avenues for training their children on how to face unexpected failures in life. Unwanted competition among parents would only produce adverse results, damaging the ability of children to face challenges in the future, he added.
District panchayat president Babu Parassey presided over the valedictory session. M. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Corporation’s standing committee on education, released the festival souvenir by handing over the first copy to Deputy Director of Education Gireesh Cholayil.
Officials said the five-day festival witnessed the participation of over 8,000 contestants from 17 educational sub districts. “The selfless support of Student Police Cadets, National Service Scheme volunteers and NCC cadets helped us manage the festival without any major complaints. The police too rendered commendable service to maintain law and order,” they said.
