Infotainment: The show is a hit!
People from all walks of life thronged the mega Islamabad Knowledge City Festival on its second day.
ISLAMABAD:
People from all walks of life thronged the mega Islamabad Knowledge City Festival on its second day.
Organised by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), the five-day festival is being held at the Convention Centre, Islamabad, and has managed to attract more visitors than the organisers expected. Students from various schools have been performing plays, cultural shows and musical acts.
However, it is far from being just an entertainment show. Students view the festival as a great source of learning. “It is really a healthy activity for students as we got to know a lot about different products and organisations and met so many people,” said Hamza Malik, a class ten student from Islamabad Model College G-10/3 who set up a stall on behalf of FDE. “This is a tremendous achievement of the organisers as it has been able to attract such a large number of people. Such events should be organised annually,” he said.
Describing his own popular stall, he said he organises puzzle games with which other students can gauge their IQ.
A visitor, Malik Shahzad, commented that more activities such as this would promote a culture of learning, which we seem to have lost. “This is a positive step by the Ministry of Education, especially because people have not participated in such an entertaining and informative activity for a long time,” he remarked.
A sales-man from Rasheed Book Depot, who has set up a book stall, said that he had been able to introduce and sell a large amount of books, stickers and brochures in just two days. He looked happy when he said, “Such activities will encourage people to develop a reading habit.”
Arooj, a lady from Abbottabad, has set up a stall to educate young science students on methods to conduct chemical experiments. Her colleague, Nida Nasiha, said that teachers should encourage and guide students to develop and carry out practical experiments, instead of just lecturing them.
Students of the National College of Art (NCA), Lahore, drew a large crowd to their stall and demonstrated their skills by drawing the visitors’ portraits. Syed Ibrar, a student of NCA, said that their skill was being highly appreciated by all who came their way. “Many youngsters expressed a desire to join NCA in the future, only by observing our skills,” he said.
An official of the Ministry of Education said that the people’s feedback had been excellent so far. He was hopeful that the public’s encouragement would make such events more frequently possible in the future.
“Pakistanis are skilful people and they should be encouraged to brush up their hidden skills,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2011.
People from all walks of life thronged the mega Islamabad Knowledge City Festival on its second day.
Organised by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), the five-day festival is being held at the Convention Centre, Islamabad, and has managed to attract more visitors than the organisers expected. Students from various schools have been performing plays, cultural shows and musical acts.
However, it is far from being just an entertainment show. Students view the festival as a great source of learning. “It is really a healthy activity for students as we got to know a lot about different products and organisations and met so many people,” said Hamza Malik, a class ten student from Islamabad Model College G-10/3 who set up a stall on behalf of FDE. “This is a tremendous achievement of the organisers as it has been able to attract such a large number of people. Such events should be organised annually,” he said.
Describing his own popular stall, he said he organises puzzle games with which other students can gauge their IQ.
A visitor, Malik Shahzad, commented that more activities such as this would promote a culture of learning, which we seem to have lost. “This is a positive step by the Ministry of Education, especially because people have not participated in such an entertaining and informative activity for a long time,” he remarked.
A sales-man from Rasheed Book Depot, who has set up a book stall, said that he had been able to introduce and sell a large amount of books, stickers and brochures in just two days. He looked happy when he said, “Such activities will encourage people to develop a reading habit.”
Arooj, a lady from Abbottabad, has set up a stall to educate young science students on methods to conduct chemical experiments. Her colleague, Nida Nasiha, said that teachers should encourage and guide students to develop and carry out practical experiments, instead of just lecturing them.
Students of the National College of Art (NCA), Lahore, drew a large crowd to their stall and demonstrated their skills by drawing the visitors’ portraits. Syed Ibrar, a student of NCA, said that their skill was being highly appreciated by all who came their way. “Many youngsters expressed a desire to join NCA in the future, only by observing our skills,” he said.
An official of the Ministry of Education said that the people’s feedback had been excellent so far. He was hopeful that the public’s encouragement would make such events more frequently possible in the future.
“Pakistanis are skilful people and they should be encouraged to brush up their hidden skills,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2011.