SHOWCASING TALENT: Children performing a folk dance at the Prathibha Karanji at BEM School in Mangalore on Thursday.

MANGALORE: The first leg of the inter-school cultural competition "Prathiba Karanji" began here on Thursday at the BEM High School under the aegis of the Education Department in Mangalore.

Going by the enthusiasm of the children, parents and teachers it was a big hit. It gave an opportunity to the children to showcase their talents.

Held at seven centres

The programme was held simultaneously at seven centres in the city. This time, the department was well equipped to accommodate all the children at one venue. One of the officials stated that the department had gained much experience from last year's Pratibha Karanji when the officials had struggled to accommodate all the children in one venue as the response was overwhelming.

Nearly 3,000 children participated in the cluster-level competitions this year, which was more than last year's figure.

In the district-level competitions, the department expects a participation of over 15,000.

K.S. Umesh, coordinator of the programme at the Block Education Office, told The Hindu that the city was divided into three clusters, Kavoor, Gandhinagar and Mahakali Padpu. Each cluster was further divided into groups of schools and each school had categories under age group based on classes 1-5, 6-7 and 8-10. The block-level competitions will be held on October 6 and 7. Those groups and children who qualify at the block level will go to district-level and then State-level competitions.

Mr. Umesh said the district-level competition would be held in Belthangady in which only those studying in classes 6-10 could participate.

There were 18 venues for the cluster-level competitions in the city in three clusters. The largest attendance was at the BEM School in Car Street where over 350 students showcased their talents. This was also the venue where maximum children were selected for block-level competitions.

Some parents said the children had really stretched the canvas as they brought every possible performing art onto the stage.

The theme of many stage events was patriotism. Yakshagana and traditional folk theatre items took the parents and teachers by surprise. As many as 154 schools participated in the programme.

The Deputy Director of Public Instruction Shankarappa visited every venue.

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