Students upbeat over city round

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 12

Local students are excited about crossword contest of CBSE as Ludhiana is the only city in the state where the ‘city round’ for the national-level contest will be held this year. Named ‘CBSE Cryptic Crossword Contest 2015’, it would be organised in the schools affiliated with the board in different cities across the country.

The contest was organised last year as well, but no round was held in the city. Last year, it was organised at Chandigarh from the region. “We could not participate in the crossword contest last year because it was not organised in the city, but this time we are raring to participate in the contest,” said Abhishek, a student.

The contest in the city round will be organised here on August 5. City rounds will be organised in 34 cities in the country and these will start in Ranchi from July 26 for students studying in classes IX to XII. School teams consisting of two students will solve the cryptic crossword puzzle in 60 minutes. The national round having the stages of quarterfinal, semifinal and final will be organised in New Delhi in December.

School teachers are also encouraging students to participate in the contest. “It is a golden opportunity to participate and perform well as city schools won’t be getting an opportunity to participate every year,” said a school teacher. “We would encourage maximum students to participate in the contest. At school-level, we are not only going to conduct such contests to shortlist the brilliant performers, we will also help students in the preparation to compete well for the national contest,” he said.

Navita Puri, director, Ludhiana Sahodya Schools Complex and Principal Kundan Vidya Mandir, said, “It is good that the crossword contest is being organised in CBSE schools. Crosswords help develop thinking skills and cognitive abilities as one has to derive answers and solutions from clues, by drawing conclusions, weighingthe alternatives for solving. It is a brilliantopportunity for the city schools to compete in the contest.” She said there was no informationfrom the board so far about the venue of the contest in the city.