COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu Art Teachers Association on Thursday submitted a petition to the school education department (SED) urging it to allocate more funds for ‘Kalai Thiruvizha’ events for its efficient conduct at the block level.
Association president SA Rajkumar told TNIE that currently, the SED allocates only `30,000 to each block for the talent shows. “Recently, competitions were held at 15 blocks in Coimbatore, with 700 to 800 students participating across 64 categories. Except for a few blocks, the school education department did not serve lunch. Instead, tea and snacks (biscuits) were given to students. As a result, some students, especially girls, could not perform well,” he said.
“Headmasters and teachers, who also serve as competition coordinators, are forced to depend on sponsorships from private educational institutions. Some even have had to spend from their pockets to arrange for students’ transport to reach the venue. As a result, competitions are not held efficiently,” he said. Rajkumar added that the SED should consider allocating at least Rs 1 lakh to each block.
When contacted, one of the coordinators of Kalai Thiruvizha events under the Samagra Shiksha programme told TNIE that the funds allocated are not enough and are mostly used up as honorarium for judges, and to pay for tea and snacks. “It was difficult for us to conduct the competitions solely from the sponsorships we got from private institutions,” the coordinator said. She added that the SED did not allocate funds for prize money for winners of the block-level competitions, which will encourage students.