District-level arts & cultural fest to begin today

CHENNAI: The district-level arts and cultural festival is set to begin at all government middle, high and higher secondary schools across the State from Tuesday.

The local and block level events concluded on Monday.

To inculcate traditional art forms to government school students, the School Education Department has been conducting arts and cultural festival since November. The school-level events concluded on November 28. The local-level events were held between November 29 and December 5.

Subsequently, the district-level events are set to begin from December 6 and conclude on December 10. And the final-level events will be held between January 3 and 9. The department confirmed that 20 best performing students will be taken abroad on an education tour.

Some of the traditional art forms that were held at schools included karakattam, silambattam, kummi and kavadiyattam for students of classes 6-12 at all middle, high and higher secondary schools. The one-of-a-kind event received a huge praise from students and stakeholders, as it provided them an opportunity to explore their talents.

“The festival was an opportunity to experiment with our skills, besides attending classes and studying. We were also able to learn and understand leadership skills, team building and networking skills,” said a Class 9 student in Chennai government school.

Meanwhile, a government school teacher noted, “Participation from students is encouraging us to do more to bring out their talents. Involving government students in such activities will encourage more students to join government schools in future.”