Appeal virus hits State IT Fest too

KAZHAKKOOTTAM: Events like the school kalotsav  were started for a single purpose; to encourage the participation of students and to provide a platform for them to display their talents. But over the years, the festival has more or less been hijacked by parents, who want their children to don the crown. This has led to a flood of appeals, literally killing the festive spirit. The same scenario has begun to surface in the State IT Fest also. For the first time in the decade-long history of the fest, nine appeals were received by the organisers on the first day from the Deputy Directors of Education (DDEs) of various districts, making both the organisers and the participants distressed. The candidates who had won the first and second places in the district IT fests were invited over for the State competition. Thus, 280 students were expected to arrive at  Technopark here for the final showdown. But, derailing the expectation of the organisers, nine students from various districts approached them with appeals forwarded by the respective DDEs. This left the organisers in  deep distress as they had never encountered such an issue before. Joseph Antony, Ernakulam IT@School Mission co-ordinator, told Express that parents are responsible for this menace as they want their children to procure 30 grace marks in the examination. ”One parent asked me why we were not encouraging appeals in the fest, while the organisers of State Kalotsav were doing so. It is we who suffer most as we arrange computers for a fixed number of participants. But when a candidate comes with an appeal, we have to rearrange things at the last minute. This creates disturbance to other participants as well,” he said. The organisers received a total of ten appeals, of which nine were granted. One of the appeals was found to be baseless and the candidate was denied entry. Students from Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kollam and Ernakulam had turned up with appeals. K Anvar Sadath, Executive Director of IT @ School Mission, said that most of the appeals were granted on baseless grounds. ”The DDEs were politically pressurised to allow appeals,” he revealed.