THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The two-day sports meet for students of CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya, ICSE and Jawahar Navodaya schools will be held at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium from January 30.
The first edition of such an event bringing together budding talents from over 1,500 schools in Kerala is being organised by the Kerala State Sports Council.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Kerala State Central Schools Sports Meet at 6 pm on January 30. Competitions will be held in Under-14 and Under-17 categories for girls and boys. Winners will be awarded medals and certificates. Apart from Best Athlete and Team Championship trophies in each category, there will be Overall Championship for the winning team.
Best Performance trophy will be given to the best team in the march past during the inaugural day. Competitions will begin at 7.30 am on January 30. The valedictory function and prize distribution will be held on January 31 at 4 pm.
Over 1,500 schools to participate
There are 1,320 CBSE schools, 167 ICSE schools, 14 Jawahar Navodaya schools and 40 Kendriya Vidyalayas in the state which follow the Central syllabus.
“As many as 14 lakh children are studying in these institutions. Government school students are able to take part in national school competitions. Unlike them, these students are not getting the exposure they deserve in the sports field. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country to bring these children also in the limelight,” T P Dasan, president, Kerala Sports Council, said.
He expects other states would also take a cue from this initiative. Only athletics has been included in the inaugural meet and more games will be added in the coming years.
Sanjayan Kumar, secretary, Kerala Sports Council; Indira Rajan, state secretary, CBSE Management Association; G Rajmohan, treasurer, Organising Committee; and D Mohanan, convener, organising committee, were among those present at the event.