KOCHI: For the first time in the country, the Kerala State School Sports Meet, which will be held in Kochi from November 4 to 11, will be all ‘inclusive’ as 1,800 differently-abled students will participate in 21 events of the meet.

The 21 games include three games and 18 athletic events.

Modelled in an ‘Olympics’ manner, the 8-day school sports extravaganza, to be conducted across 17 venues in the district, will see a total of 24,000 students competing in 39 different events, said General Education Minister V Sivankutty, addressing a news conference on Tuesday.

“The general education department looks at the overall integral development of children. Healthy and able citizens are relevant for the development of the nations. This year’s events will see participation from eight schools from Gulf countries for the first time,” said the minister.

“Additionally this year’s events will be all ‘inclusive’ as 1800 differently-abled students will participate in 21 events of the meet, in 3 games and 18 athletic events, for the first time in the country, ” he added.