Dispute over best school winners takes sheen off State school meet

Tension at Kerala School Sports & Games valedictory function leads to protests, police intervention, and disputed results.

An otherwise meticulously organised Kerala School Sports & Games lost a great deal of its sheen following protracted tension at the Maharajas College ground after students and teachers from two schools staged a protest over the result in the best school (athletics) category leading to police intervention during the valedictory function of the meet on Monday (November 11, 2024) evening.

The drama started unfolding during the prize distribution ceremony when G.V, Raja Sports School was adjudged the first runner-up in the best school category pushing Navamukunda HSS, Thirunavaya, and Mar Basil HSS, Kothamangalam, who were supposed to be the first and second-runner up down the points table. This meant that Navamukunda slipped to the third position while Mar Basil was left entirely out of the top-three finish leading to stiff protest by students and teachers of those two schools with even parents joining forces.

Interestingly, the official portal of the event run by the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) continued to show Navamukunda and Mar Basil in the second and third place in the best school category while G.V. Raja Sports topped the best sports hostel category long after the protest before those results were eventually lifted.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who inaugurated the valedictory function had left the venue by the time tension erupted. When the results were declared, representatives of G.V Raja Sports School went up and collected the trophy while Navamukunda declined to collect the trophy for the third prize in protest.

The protesting students and teachers accused that general schools and sports schools were considered separately for the best school prize in the past and that the reported change to club the two categories in the wake of the decision to conduct this year’s meet in Olympic Games model wasn’t conveyed to them at no point.

As students and teachers from the both the schools continued to protest, the police contingent deployed at the venue led by Ernakulam Central Assistant Commissioner Jayakumar C. intervened.

This further infuriated the protestors who later accused the police of behaving rudely and even manhandling students. The police, however, dispelled the accusation and claimed that they had only taken precautionary measures to stop the protestors from invading the dais where Ministers for Education and Sports V. Sivankutty and V. Abdurahiman were still present.