THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The revised manual of the state school arts festival (Kaloslavam), which placed a cap on the number of events a student can participate in, has evoked widespread protests from contestants.
A section of teachers, who have been active in organising the fete over the years, has pointed out that the move would limit the participation of students in Arabic and Sanskrit festivals, that are held along with the general event.
Though the rule that limits the maximum number of individual events to three and group events to two for a contestant existed earlier, it applied separately for the general event and the two specialised arts fetes.
As per the revised manual, the cap is now applicable to all three festivals taken together.
“A student who wants to participate in Sanskrit or Arabic festival along with the general event will either have to cut down the number of events to meet the requirement or skip these two special festivals altogether,” pointed out a higher secondary school principal from Malappuram.
In a bid to bring down a large number of appeals against the verdict of judges, the fees have been doubled from the school level to the sub-district level.
For appeals to participate in the state-level event from the district level, the amount to be deposited has also been reportedly doubled. The amount will be forfeited if the contestant who appeals does not secure better scores than the district-level winner.
While the amendments have been generally welcomed as a step to dissuade frivolous appeals, questions have been raised on whether the appeal option can be exercised by students from economically weaker sections due to the huge financial burden involved.
Meanwhile, a section of teachers have come out against the belated revisions to the manual at a time when the school-level competitions, and even the sub-district level competitions in some districts, have already been completed. The general education department’s order to extend the deadline for various levels of competitions came when the events were already underway.
According to K Abdul Majeed of the Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association, the manual of the Science Festival (Shastrolsavam) was also revised in a similar manner when the sub-district level competitions were completed.
After a huge outcry, the amendments were put on hold.
“It is highly irresponsible on the part of the department to make drastic changes to the manual when the lower-level competitions have already begun,” Majeed said.
He also complained that the views of stakeholders, including students, are not taken into account while effecting such major changes.
