CHENNAI: A total of 1,418 government school students, who had won various competitions held as part of the state-level Kalai Thiruvizha (Art Festival), were honoured during a ceremony held at Anna Centenary Library on Tuesday.
At the ceremony, one student each from classes 6-8, classes 9-10, and classes 11-12, who had won the highest number of competitions was given the title 'Kalaiarasan'/'Kalaiarasi'.
According to the school education department, 19,02,220 students from 13,238 government school across the state took part in Kalai Thiruvizha.
The department had received 40,25,837 entries originally, and of these, 6,85,324 students qualified for the block level and 1.96,874 students went to compete at the district level. Subsequently, 15,930 students made it to the state-level, with 1,418 of them winning several competitions.
The school education department had introduced Kalai Thiruvizha for encouraging government school students to showcase their various artistic abilities.
Moreover, 50 students who perform exceptionally well will also be taken on an exposure tour to foreign countries. Notably, last year, the event had drawn 28 lakh entries.