To discourage rapidly growing extremism in the country we must keep our children away from discrimination and prejudice, said renowned literary figure Zohra Nigar at a press conference held at a local hotel in Islamabad on Thursday.
The press conference was organised by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, Oxford University Press, and Foundation Open Society Institute Pakistan to unveil the plan for the sixth Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) going to be held on Pak-China Friendship Forum from May 24 to May 25.
For making tolerate and exemplary society we must promote the culture of reading and writing among children, said Nigar.
While addressing the press conference, OUP head Amina Syed said the CLF was a free public event to be attended by thousands of children, their parents and teachers from across the country. “The CLF is a social movement; an equaliser for all school systems including children from government schools, private schools, and madrasahs to address challenges of learning, reviving a culture of reading and generating content for textbooks and supplementary materials in the classrooms,” she added.
Baila Raza Jameel of Adara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi said it was a torch bearer campaign for promoting reading habits amongst children, exposing them to multi-sensory earning beyond textbooks and tests. She said the CLF was an exciting initiative to promote reading, creativity, critical thinking and imagination among children.
There will be activities for children from the age groups of 4 to 10 and 11 to 17 in the CLF. It includes reading, storytelling, creative writing, bookmaking, and poetry reading. Sessions include writing book reviews, workshops on illustrations, digital stories, comics and managing libraries, debating, live puppets, cartoons, theatre and music shows.