Literary festival: Work hard, forget short-cuts, students advised

6,000 books distributed among public school students.

LAHORE: “Work hard and do not look out for short-cuts for success. This can help you become leaders in whatever career path you choose,” Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed advised a group of school children a Children Literary Festival held in Gulshan-i-Ravi area on Saturday.

The festival organised by the Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) at the Moon Market Park was attended by at least 3,000 public school students.

He referred to the success of a Jhang student, Aliza Riaz, in an international English language competition as an example for all children. Riaz had recently stood first at the Kangaroo Competition.

“Education is the only way one can end poverty, joblessness and ignorance in the society,” he said.

The minister said that he would ensure that allocation for the education sector in the upcoming budget was more than Rs1 million.

Stalls were setup at the festival by the Oxford University Press (OUP), the National Book Foundation Pakistan (NBFP) and the Punjab Textbook Book Board.

The ITA team distributed 6,000 books, in Urdu and English language, among children. The books were donated for the purpose by the OUP and the Education Department.

ITA director Dr Baela Raza Jamil, the founder of the CLF, said her organisation was working on a plan to hold similar literary festival for children in other areas as well. She said she was consulting the government for help in this regard.

“We started the CLF in 2011 to promote the habit of reading among children,” she said. She said the idea behind the festival was to encourage children to read extra-curricular books besides those included in their curriculum.

OUP representative Tariq Haq said promotion of reading habits could help transform the culture of schooling in the country. He said his organisation was collaborating with the ITA in its festivals.

The festival also featured a play staged by students of Sanjan Nagar School on promotion of peace and unity.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2015.