CHENNAI: For the Kalai Thiruvizha (Arts and Cultural festival), the state-level events have been scheduled in early December in most districts. However, this coincides with the half-yearly exam announced for classes 10-12 from December 9.

In the current academic year, the School Education Department announced competitions under Kalai Thiruvizha for students from classes 1-12. Already during the previous months, the block and district-level events were completed, proceeding with the state-level events.

Teachers of State-run schools claim that the quarterly exams were also held closer to the dates announced for district-level events. This, they say, puts unnecessary stress on students, parents and teachers. “Also, there is no time to revise the exam portion for students during the festival,” allege teachers, who also urge the department to schedule dates after the exams.

For districts like Coimbatore, Erode, Namakkal, and Tiruvarur, the festival has been scheduled from December 3-6. During the first week, the dates for the events have been announced for other districts too. However, the half-yearly exam for students of classes 10-12 is scheduled from December 9-21.