The preliminary competition ceremony kicked off in Karachi on Saturday following its inaugural presentations in Lahore and Islamabad. A large number of teachers, students and other stakeholders gathered at the Sheraton to receive information on participating procedures.
Horlick’s WizKids Interschool Fiesta will bring together students from classes five to 12 from as many as 210 schools for 10 action-packed competitions. A total of 75 schools from Karachi, 75 from Lahore and 60 from Islamabad will be part of this event. This is the second time that Pakistan is participating in this contest after the first time in 2008.
After competitions at the school level, a winner from each city will be selected to make the WizTeam Pakistan 2010. This team will then compete for the winning title with teams from other countries in South Asia. The competitions are scheduled to take place on November 2 in Lahore, November 4 in Islamabad and November 7 in Karachi.
The competition includes 10 unique, impromptu contests for its young participants. Students will get to show off their talents with quizzes, painting, mehndi art, creative art, music, English story writing, Urdu story writing, little chef and Antakshari. The activities will be judged by a panel of celebrities, professionals and corporate leaders, such as Zubaida Apa, Nazia Malik and Imrana Maqsood.
“The best thing about the idea is that we don’t have to study or research for it,” said an O’ Level student from St Paul’s School, Collin Mark Joseph. Collin, who has already won the scrabble competition for his school once, believed that the journey to the finals was going to be easy if he had faith.
His friend Bilal Ahmed was also among the 25 boys selected from his school, only four of whom will be shortlisted to represent it.
St Patrick’s High School O’ Levels incharge Aloysious D’ Cunha found the WizKids competition different from the others because of the ‘musical melody’ and ‘creative play’ contests. St Patrick’s has several students who are talented but do not have a platform to showcase them. “For instance, there is one student who can play the tabla really well and will take part in this competition,” he added.
Happy Home O’ Level head, Farah Imam, also held similar views. “The name fiesta itself suggests that it is not a nerdy contest and involves enjoyable activities,” she pointed out, adding that, “I am sure my students will be immediately motivated to participate”.
The competition also promotes creativity through a variety of activities, said Erum Irfan, head of Karachi Cadet School.
There were some anxious teachers towards the final rounds but they too agreed that it would be a huge learning experience. Unlike the teachers, however, a confident Collin was sure he would reach the South Asian finals. “I believe in myself,” he said.
Mahmood Nanji, one of the judges, said that, “the main concept [of this competition] is ‘overall grooming’ which is lacking in schools these days”.
Hunting for talent
Horlick’s WizKids spokesperson Sidra Iqbal, who was involved in the youth hunt programme, concluded the introductory ceremony by narrating her experience. She said that it was an absolute joy to explore untapped potential in various schools.
As she shouted the sponsor’s slogan “taller, stronger and sharper”, the confidence with which the audience echoed her cheers indicated that the competition will be one of a kind.
Published in The Express Triune, October 24th, 2010.
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