School Kalolsavam: Kasaragod girl with rare disease wins an A grade after competing online

Chest No. 912. Event: Arabic poster making. 

Siya Fathima should have been at CMS Higher Secondary School, Thrissur. Instead, for the first time in the 63-year history of the Kerala School Kalolsavam, a student competed remotely, via video conference.

Siya Fathima secured an A grade participating in the prestigious competition from her home in Kasaragod’s Padna panchayat on Saturday.

Minister for General Education V Sivankutty made a special exception for Siya Fathima, who is under quarantine and undergoing treatment for vasculitis, a painful condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its own blood vessels.

Speaking to reporters at the Kalolsavam venue in Thrissur on Friday, Sivankutty said that the decision was made after the student conveyed the seriousness of her condition and her determination to participate in the festival.

“She told me she felt she was moving closer to death, and that her wish was to participate in the Kalolsavam,” the minister said. “So a special order was issued. This has never happened in the last 63 editions of the festival. It is a speciality of the 64th State School Kalolsavam.”

Siya Fathima is a Class X student at VKP Khalid Haji Memorial Madrassathul Rahmaniya Vocational Higher Secondary School, Padna, and the Kasaragod district-level winner in Arabic poster designing. Soon after qualifying for the state-level competition, she was diagnosed with vasculitis. As part of her treatment, doctors suppressed her immune system, placing her under strict quarantine. Travel was ruled out, as even a minor infection could pose a serious risk to her life.

Despite this, Siya was unwilling to give up her chance to compete. She wrote to the Education Minister, explaining her condition and asking whether there was any way he could help her take part in the competition. Her teachers also approached the minister at the venue in Thrissur on her behalf.

Following the minister’s special order, officials of the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) set up cameras and technical systems at Siya’s residence in Padna on Saturday. Her competition entry was live-streamed to the Kalolsavam venue in Thrissur, where judges evaluated it in real time along with other state-level entries.
When the results were announced, Siya was awarded an A grade.

After the result, Siya expressed happiness and thanked the minister, her teachers, and officials for enabling her participation.

Revenue Minister K Rajan, who was present at the festival venue, also appreciated Sivankutty’s decision, describing it as a rare and “historical” moment at the Kalolsavam. “The government has appreciated the minister’s decision,” he said.

Siya Fathima’s father, Abdul Muneer, an auto driver, told reporters in Kasaragod that his daughter had been determined to participate even if it meant travelling to Thrissur by ambulance.

“She was ready to go through any hardship to take part,” he said. “Now she is very happy. For the moment, she has even forgotten the pain she is going through.”