Preserve the spirit of school arts festival
While briefing the media on the preparations for the Kerala School Arts Festival, which will begin on January 3 in Kozhikode, Education Minister V Sivankutty expressed hope that from this year, the competition will be among the budding artists themselves and not among the parents or teachers. There’s no doubt as to what the minister had in mind. In the past, parents and teachers often turned the festival venue into a “war zone”. Scenes of students and parents belligerently confronting the judges when the decision goes against them were aplenty. Parents and teachers have failed to educate their wards and themselves on facing failures with grace and equanimity. The instinct to defeat the “rival” by any means has conquered the finer emotions, which is out of sync with the ethos of an arts festival. Through unethical means, parents pump in thousands of rupees to secure prizes or an ‘A’ grade for their children.
All efforts to cleanse such practices and eliminate middlemen, who make money and vitiate the atmosphere, have come to nought. Equally disturbing is the increasing number of appeals—a fallout of the system introduced to help address genuine grievances. We see now that almost every participant who is denied the first place is rushing to the appeal committee. When the appeal is denied, parents approach the courts. Some lawyers specialise in appearing in such cases, charging enormous amounts for their service. The appeal system has grown into a major irritant, affecting the conduct of the festival. Organisers are kept guessing as a student may turn up with a court order at the last minute. Apart from creating confusion, it upsets the entire schedule of the festival. Children in full costumes and make-up wait hours for their turn and finally present their item in a half-awakened state. The government has finally decided to allow only a specific number of appeals at the district level to restrict the number of participants at the state fest. But this alone will not solve the problem.
A change is required in the mindset of the parents and teachers. They must realise that participation itself is joy and not defeating others. Organisers, parents and teachers must come together to preserve the spirit of the festival and make sure that the talents of the children are not belittled.