KOCHI: For the first time in the country, the Kerala State School Sports Meet, which will be held in Kochi from November 4 to 11, will be all ‘inclusive’ as 1,800 differently-abled students will participate in 21 events of the meet.
The 21 games include three games and 18 athletic events.
Modelled in an 'Olympics' manner, the 8-day school sports extravaganza, to be conducted across 17 venues in the district, will see a total of 24,000 students competing in 39 different events, said General Education Minister V Sivankutty, addressing a news conference on Tuesday.
"The general education department looks at the overall integral development of children. Healthy and able citizens are relevant for the development of the nations. This year's events will see participation from eight schools from Gulf countries for the first time,” said the minister.
“Additionally this year's events will be all ‘inclusive’ as 1800 differently-abled students will participate in 21 events of the meet, in 3 games and 18 athletic events, for the first time in the country, ” he added.
The event will be preceded by an inaugural procession from either ends of the state - Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod districts - which will reach the Kaloor stadium on November 3, carrying the meet lantern and its mascot ‘Thakkudu’.
The cultural ceremony following the opening ceremony will be inaugurated by film star Mammootty, the chief guest of the ceremony. The cultural events would see the participation of over 3,000 students from the state.
While a colourful inaugural ceremony will be held at JLN Stadium, Kaloor, the concluding ceremony will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the Maharaja's College ground.
This year's event is also different as all the events are being conducted in one district as compared to earlier times when different districts hosted different events.
Many events will be held both day and night. The district winning the maximum points will receive CM’s ever rolling trophy, for the first time this year.
Sivankutty also announced that the State School Science Festival will be held from November 15 to 18 in Alappuzha. There would be 180 events for high school, higher secondary school and vocational higher secondary school students.