Agartala, Jan 22: A team of girls from St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School, Pathaliaghat in Sepahijala district of Tripura has secured the third position in national School Band Competition.
The state’s girls secured the third spot in ‘Brass Band Girls’ category. 
The winners of National School Band Competition was jointly organised by Ministry of Defence & Ministry of Education at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi as part of Republic Day celebrations 2024.
State Education Officer, Kalipada Chakma, who is also coordinating officer of the competition, earlier said that the team, in the earlier stage of the zonal competition held in Bhubaneswar on 22nd December, won first place in the eastern region, beating several small and big states of the eastern region including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal. 
The Girl’s Brass Band of St. Xavier’s Higher Secondary School Pathaliaghat, consists of 25 girls aged between 11 to 16 and from class 6-8. They hail from different interior villages of Tripura. The band team is just 8 months old and they have performed at three different places and bagged First Prizes in all these three events. Interestingly, their band classes were held for 15 days and they mastered the instruments within a short duration of time.
According to a PIB Press Release, the Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy Shri Sanjay Kumar gave away the cash prizes to the winners along with a trophy, and certificates. The jury appointed by the Ministry of Defence, which included members from each wing of the Armed Forces, selected the winners of the competition upon the culmination of the grand finale held on January 21 & 22, 2024.
In addition to the participating teams, there was a special performance by Government Sardar Patel Senior Secondary School, Kalpeni, Lakshadweep.
The competition was organised at three levels viz. State, Zonal and conducted by all the States/Union Territories (UTs) for all schools (CBSE, ICSE, KVS, NVS, and Sainik schools etc). Four hundred and eighty six (486) teams, comprising 12,857 children, participated at the State-Level Competition, while 73 teams of 2,002 children took part at the Zonal Level. Four hundred and fifty seven (457) students of schools from 15 States/Union Territories took part in the Grand Finale. This competition was aimed at rejuvenating the spirit of patriotism and unity amongst children in schools throughout the country and motivating them on the path of holistic education. (with PIB inputs)