“Students should shed their inhibitions and come forward to take part in arts, science, sports, and cultural competitions without dwelling too much on the results. One cannot win all the time. Hence, students should not get dejected when they lose. Participating in a competition itself is a sign of progress and a great achievement,” said Mr. B. Manimaran, Additional Superintendent of Police, Special Wing for Crime against Women and Children, Erode District, while addressing the students who participated in Thirukkural competitions organised by Shriram Ilakkiya Kazhagam in the city, recently.
At the end of the event, three students from Erode zone have been selected to take part in the final round of Shriram Ilakkiya Kazhagam’s state-level Thirukkural Speech Competition 2023, to be held in Chennai soon.
Addressing the students after presenting prizes to winners, Mr Manimaran said, “I congratulate the best performers and wish them all the best for their state-level competitions. At the same time, I would also like to congratulate the other students who were not selected. They should understand that participating in competitions itself is a sign of progress and a great achievement. They should never lose their self-confidence and self-esteem due to the outcome of a single competition. Instead of feeling dejected, they should lift themselves up and continue to participate in competitions in different fields, be it arts, science, sports, or culturals.”
Shriram Ilakkiya Kazhagam has been organising Thirukkural speech competitions for school and college students in Tamil Nadu every year. The district-level competitions are held at 12 zones across the state. The competitions for the Erode zone were conducted at Sengunthar Higher Secondary School recently, in which a total of 363 students from Erode, Karur, and Namakkal took part. The speech competition attracted the participation of 73 students in the junior category, meant for students in classes 6 to 8, and 46 students in the senior category (classes 9 to 12) There were 11 college students participating in the competition.
The following students were selected to participate in the final round of the state-level speech competition to be held in Chennai soon:
- Junior Level: Ms. V. Kavinthra, Little Flower Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Sathyamangalam
- Senior Level: Mr. T. Vishnuvardhan, Sengunthar Hr Sec School, Erode
- College Level: Mr. D. Dhanraj, Annamalai University, Chidambaram
In addition to the speech competition, zonal-level essay writing and drawing competitions were also held as part of the Thirukkural Vizha. 64 students participated in the essay writing competition, and 169 students participated in the drawing competition.
The event saw the participation of Mr. S. Sivanandan, Secretary, Sengunthar Educational Institutions; Mr. S. Velumani, Headmaster, Sengunthar Higher Secondary School; Ms. Kavitha, Headmistress, VVCRM Sengunthar Girls Higher Secondary School; Mr. A. Kesavan, Senior Zonal Manager, Shriram Chits, Erode District, and Mr. Chinnathurai, Manager, Shriram Chits, Erode.