Readathon gets huge response, Saadhat, Tushar emerge winners

Saadhat Singh of Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, claimed first position in the junior (Class V to VIII) and Tushar Sharma of Gian Jyoti School, Mohali, claimed top podium position in the senior (Class IX to XII) event, during The Tribune Publications’ “Readathon 2025” — an interschool newspaper reading competition. The event was held at the CII, Sector 31, and presented by Manav Rachna University, and co-sponsored by Krishna IAS Academy.

In the junior category, Bismeet Kaur of Shemrock School, Mohali, claimed second position, while Perisa Bhutani of RIMT World School, Mani Majra, claimed the third position. Saina Chandel of Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, claimed the first consolation prize, followed by Gurfateh Singh of Smart Wonder School, Mohali, winning second (consolation) prize, Srishti of The Tribune School, Sector 29, claiming third prize and Pratiksha Prashar of AKSIPS, Sector 45, bagging the fourth prize.

In the senior category, Yashita Malik of St Xavier’s School, Panchkula, claimed second position, and Toshani of Saupin’s School, Sector 32, finished third in the event. Myra Moudgil of St Anne’s Convent School, Sector 32, bagged the first consolation prize, while Aashi Garg of RIMT School and Simran Nayar of AKSIPS bagged second and third prizes, respectively.

The event was judged by Dr Guni Vats, Assistant Professor, Manav Rachna University; Dr Sachin Goel, Director, Krishna IAS Academy; Jasdeep Singh and Dr Prashant Mohan, former trade marketing head, Bunge India. The event witnessed a massive response from tricity schools, as over 100 students confirmed their participation. The participating students read a news report, editorial, or write-up selected by a panel. Each student completed reading the news report within two minutes and 30 seconds. The participants were assessed on the basis of confidence, diction, intonation and pronunciation while reading chosen report.

During the preliminary round, a competition took place with observers from The Tribune assisting the judge. Thereafter, shortlisted participants (three students from each category) were selected to advance to the grand finale. In the finale, shortlisted students competed against participants from other schools. All the participants were given certificates and the winners were honoured by chief guest Dr Bharat, Professor, University of Legal Studies, Panjab University, also Dean, Information and Public Relations of the university.

“The Tribune is one of the leading publication houses of the region. Such events really boost confidence of children. I must congratulate The Tribune Group for providing such a unique platform to schoolchildren to showcase their talent. I congratulate all participants, readers, organisers and winners of the event,” said Dr Bharat.