Kerala State Central Schools Sports meet kicks off

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the first edition of the two-day Kerala State Central Schools Sports Meet, organised by the Kerala State Sports Council at Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium here on Tuesday. Students of CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya, ICSE and Jawahar Navodaya schools are participating in the first of its kind sporting event in the country. Over 1,500 schools from the state are participating in the event. Competitions are being held in Under-14 and Under-17 categories for girls and boys. Winners will be presented with medals and certificates.

John Toffi of Gurukulam Public School, Venginissery, Thrissur, who came first in 100 metre race in boys under 14 category.

Apart from the Best Athlete and Team Championship and trophies in each category, there will be an Overall Championship for the winning team. Best Performance trophy will be given to the best team in the March Past held during the inaugural day. Prizes will be presented to the winners at the valedictory function at 4 pm on Wednesday. One of the long-standing grievances of schools following the central syllabuses in the state was that their students’ sports performances were not recognised by sports council. 

Apart from losing out in sports quota admissions, these students could not also get representation in various sports initiatives like the operation Olympia. Students in the state syllabus are able to take part in national school competitions. Unlike them, these students are not getting the exposure they deserve in the sports field.  The on-going meet is one of the many steps being initiated towards addressing this grievance. Competitions in other disciplines will also be conducted in the due course. 

Mrudula Manoj of Carmel School, Vazhakkulam, Ernakulam, who came first in 100 metres girls under 14 category

Competitions were being held in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, shot put, long jump, high jump, 4x100 and 4x400m relays  in the first meet. The district-level meets were completed by January 29 and the top two athletes from each event qualified for the state meet. Apart from private schools,  Kendriya Vidyalayas and  Navodayas is  also taking part in the competition. There are 1,320 CBSE schools, 167 ICSE schools, 14 Jawahar Navodaya schools and 40 Kendriya Vidyalayas in the state. 

Sreya M George of Carmel School, Vazhakkulam, Ernakulam, who came first in high jump girls under 17 category

As many as 14 lakh children are studying in these institutions. However, these students are not getting the exposure they deserve in the sports field. The decision of the sports council to conduct the sports meet was following the efforts taken by the Kerala State CBSE Management Association.  They have been consistantly demanding for such a meet to be held. After, the meet is completed, they would also initiate steps to ensure the participation of the CBSE for conducting a national meet.

Games events from next year: CM

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that games events also will be made part of the Kerala State Central  Schools Sports Meet from next year. Chief Minister made this announcement while inaugurating the maiden edition of the event at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium here on Tuesday. The event, organised by the Kerala State Sports Council, is a proud achievement for the state, Mr Vijayan said.

 “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,” said Mr T.P. Dasan, president, Kerala Sports Council in his welcome address. Ms Indira Rajan, General Secretary, Kerala CBSE Manage-ment Association presided over the function. Mr Sanjayan Kumar, secretary, Kerala Sports Council; Mr G. Rajmohan, treasurer, organising committee; and Thiruvananthap-uram sub-collector Divya S. Iyer were present on the occasion.

Sports council bats for quota

The  Kerala State Sports Council  has asked the state government to provide admissions to CBSE and ICSE students to medical and engineering courses under the sport quota. At present, these students do not get any weightage under the sports category.    The sports council  is conducting a  two-day sports meet for students of CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya,  ICSE and Jawahar Navodaya at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium here  from Tuesday. 

The council wants to ensure that the winners  are considered for  admissions to engineering, medicine and degree courses in the state,   said  council president T.P. Dasan. The issue has already been taken up with the state government, he said.  The council has urged the  government to consider the sporting prizes  won by national board students on  par with those of state syllabus students and to give them equal weightage. The CBSE students, however, will not get grace marks for winning the competition.  The state syllabus students are given grace marks for  excellence in arts and sports and participation in NCC and scouts.

The  CBSE had recently relaxed the rules to allow students from its affiliated schools to take part in national and international meets  without worrying about the dates of  the annual examinations. The school principal can now inform the regional CBSE office about a student’s participation in a sporting event. The board will allow the student to write the exams for the corresponding subjects later.