22 schools were represented at Acton House, which roared with the laughter and giggles of children. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
KARACHI: Ninety children between the ages of six and nine, from schools all over Karachi, gathered at the British Deputy High Commissioner’s residence last Wednesday for a creative story-telling session.
The fairy-tales that were narrated to a rapt audience at Acton House included The Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Magic Porridge Pot. The narrators of these multimedia story-telling sessions were the General Manager for Special Projects Paramount Books Mohammad Ali Khan, and Seaview Academy Principal, Maria Mansoor.
22 schools were represented at Acton House, which roared with the laughter and giggles of children. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
As Khan and Mansoor narrated tales via multimedia, the children responded with enthusiasm. At times, they would even read out the lines being shown on screen before the vigilant story-tellers could!
These lovely little children, when asked what they thought fairy-tales were all about, had numerous answers to share. One child said; “It’s all about girls,the fairy-tales are not real stories” and another one chimed in saying, “these tales are not about fairies, but there is still magic in them.” With interesting insights, they delivered answers to the questions put to them and accomplished the task of turning a story-telling session into an interactive experience.
Present at the gathering was John A. Tucknott, the new British Deputy High Commissioner based here in the city. While speaking to The Express Tribune, he stressed the need for education with an emphasis on English learning skills, most notably in the state-run, public sector schools. Tucknott said, “These children are the future of the nation, and forty years from now will be leading the country with able leadership skills, as either politicians, teachers, lawyers or even as personnel in the armed forces of this country.There is a strong need for them to be better educated.”
Earlier Tucknott, while delivering his speech to the young children, stressed on the importance of attaining strong English language skills. He said, “Reading in English opens up one’s mind to a world of creativity, culture, imagination and understanding.” He gave the example of his own son Jason, who speaks five languages including English, Finnish, Swedish, French and Latin.
22 schools were represented at Acton House, which roared with the laughter and giggles of children. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
Khan emphasised on the fact that there was a strong need to revive the classics, saying,” Stories have been relived from generation to generation, but with other media-related activities taking to the ground, the story-telling session is a dying trend, today.”
From a teacher’s perspective, Mariam Faisal of Karachi Public School said, “We do have a multimedia room in the school, hence on weekly basis; the children enjoy such story-telling activity within the school premises.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2013.
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