Children Literature Festival

Impressions of CLF 2011 by Participants

Mian Shabaz Sharif’s presence at the inaugural of the Children’s Literature Festival 2011 was profound in its message to the children and educators sharing his commitment to education, learning and equity as key priorities of his government. The Chief Minister’s  session set the tone for the festival that proved to be an extra ordinary and memorable success!  Promoting  a reading culture and love of books was the central message which the CM underscored so effortlessly and softly. The CM’s address to 3000 children, teachers and authors present won the hearts and minds of many as was a story narrated with impeccable sensitivity.  Children and youth are the  most valuable constituency to be cultivated for a healthy Pakistan.    The CLF 2011 was a historic event, a pioneer festival of its kind in Pakistan. Punjab hosted this for the first time in the country as a national event. All 20,000 who came (4 times our expected number!), entered happy and left happiest with an unforgettable experience!  The festival was a  an equalizer and healer for ALL children: rich or poor, public and private, urban/rural and that is the spirit of Pakistan with a single message of promoting learning through reading .   Children kept coming wave after wave from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on November 25-26th 2011, 20,000 children (3- 18 years) with teachers and guardians to participate in the first national Children’s Literature Festival 2011 held at the Children’s library Complex (CLC) Lahore. The two day event drawing unprecedented attention reinforced one’s belief that children do matter; that they can participate to express themselves with full freedom of thought and conscience as per articles 13 and 14 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Children’s Literature Festival 2011 was a tribute to the children of Pakistan and their right to expression. The Chief Minsiter Punjab Mian Shabaz Sharif inaugurated the Festival in a most befitting manner by reading a story “Raham Dil Madari’ written by Naheed Khan and illustrated by her challenged daughter  Maryam Khan. He spoke passionately to the 3000 children present about lessons of courage and care, encouraging youth leadership and promising to radically support quality education for the most deserving in Punjab. Dr. Marilyn Wyatt, the wife of the US Ambassador to Pakistan addressed the inaugural gathering sharing her favourite books as a child, urging children and teachers to promote books and reading culture in classrooms and homes. She later read passages from Tom Sawyer to over 300 children.         Promoting the love of books and reading was at the core of the CLF 2011 conceived and executed in a campaign mode so that our children could discover that books are their best friends enriching them with wonder, ideas, questions  and imagination.  Poor learning levels in Pakistan are not simply illustrative of compromise in quality education but are also a source of social injustice and inequity for children who can afford quality learning and manage to read with comprehension and those who cannot. Textbooks and exam bound culture in schools constrain our students and teachers to go beyond  minimal texts. The festival revealed practically that children are keen to explore and engage with books imaginatively.          The Foundation of Open Society Institute  (FOSI) Pakistan was its main sponsor committed to campaigns for libraries and reading especially after the passing of the historic 18th amendment and insertion of article 25 A - Right to Education (5-16 years) as a fundamental constitutional right.  Sponsorships were provided by the US Consulate (Lahore), the British Council Pakistan; Beaconhouse Group, Rose Petal, Engro and  Atlas Honda. Over 30 awards given to winning authors and poets were funded by both individuals and civil society organizations.   OUP and ITA implemented the festival. We hope to count on  the CM for his support  in taking the CLF forward in the years to come. Ms.  Kulsoom Hai coordinated CM’s presence at the in a  very befitting manner at the Children’s Literature Festival  !  

Baela Raza Jamil
Director PRograms ITA

Story reading by Dr. Marilyn Wyatt, November 25, 2011 at the Children’s Literature Festival, Lahore

25th November 2011 was a day of celebration for the students of ACCESS centres in Lahore to enjoy the Children’s Literature Festival. Though it was a children’s festival but the adults were as enthusiastic as the kids. Reading, a most neglected area in both urban and rural areas, was celebrated with full vigor and interest. It was missing but always cherished wholeheartedly. The day of magic with smiling sunshine opened with the Chief Minister of Punjab’s address sharing his favorite story of a monkey man in his child hood (reham dil madari). Dr. Marlilyn Wyatt as a special guest to the inauguration and the children’s literature festival urged the significance of such events for progress and solidarity of our nation.Read More

Dear Baela and Ameena,

It is two weeks that I left Lahore for Delhi.I continue to be in a trance.It was like magic,a dream I do not want ending.I am still dreaming with eyes open and shut.

I visited Lahore after twelve years and felt much water had flown under the bridges. Gleaming eyes and happy faces of children and young parents,endless ques at the gate and the festival of books inside.It wasa  treat to watch young scholars vying to get to books, pamphlets, anything worth reading, listening, watching.The child in me took me to the puppet show, to the theatre,to story reading and video viewing and listening to students tearing textbooks to pieces,watching their unabshed enjoyable extempore presentations from the main stage parallel to the technical  sesions by experts( Adults!)- the segment i had to miss( most of it!). I simply wanted to be whereever children were ,sharing the exciting moments they were experiencing.What struck me was the unhibited,cogent and discerning comments of girls from State schools.They were speaking to the Text Book Board officials as equals and made sure it was in English,least concerned whether they were speaking the Queen's English or their own adaptation-they were making their point and powerfully too.

Looking at their hunger for more and more of books other than the dreary textbooks,i predicted in a session chaired by Zubaeda Mustafa-If any money is placed in their hands, they would buy books and not chocolates.This is what Baela and Ameena is your success,our success and fond hopes for a safe beautiful future for these young ones.Watching these young children was a feast- made me feel,the future of humanity is  safe if left in the hands of these unsullied pure mindswho are balanced and eager to contribute.

Thank u fpr providing me the opprtunity to be in Lahore with all of you at the CLF-May it gain in strength and splendour and reach out every child in Pakistan.

I was able to visit my home at 7 Mclagan Road and Saima's mother Naseem helped me find my school -in fact only a plaque saying these classrooms were built in 1918 and four rooms and the verandah outside my Principal's office. And i found three old Banayan trees, now 64  years older, under which we sat having our tiffin- my sister,two friens and myself.It is Chistiya school now and the huge stadium and play grounds are now a Garden.We drove through familiar roads and places,the Lawrence Gardens,Golbagh,Anarkali,saw Govt.College where my father studied and YMCA where we played table tennis every evening.The Coffee House is still where it was.And ,the treat was visiting the shahalmi gate (as we knew it and not Shah Alam Gate!) inside which my grand parents had a haveli.I used to walk with my Dadi from our house at Mclagan Rod to Akbar Gate for buying groceries for our large joint household-would get a treat of puris ,lassi ,kulfi with falooda in the bargain.I was a very aware eight when we left Lahore on 8th of August,1947.

It was homecoming for me and I wished I did not have to leave.

Your Cousellar in Delhi,Abrar Hasmi had indicated that soon visa on arrival may be possible for 60 years+.That would be a bonanza for those who wee born on either side of the  fence but are always yearning to visit their birthplace, for families split on two sides.Hope this provision is soon made for children and their educators.We are into business of improving trading of goods but not fostering love which one feels in abundance when u cross the HUDD. Hudd kar di Yaar!

Shall write a fuller account and send it.

Inshaallah phir milenge!

Bhut pyaar se,
Tumahri
Usha

Dear Baela and Ameena,

As I walked out of the Children’s Library Complex I saw a gentleman struggling to adjust five little girls with beaming faces, on a motorbike. While I tried to convince him to do two rounds, he told me that it was not so difficult in the morning, but by the end of the day each one of them had collected loads of freebies from the different stalls and were not ready to part with any of the printed material- some of them just scraps of paper! One of the little girls said, “I will decorate my room with these brochures as they will always remind me of the most enjoyable day of my life”.  
Thanks for inviting me to the Children’s Literature Festival. It was a very unique experience given the disturbed times we’re living in; the participation in terms of numbers and fervor was absolutely amazing. The overwhelming public response definitely points at the need for such events; it also signals a general sense of awareness about the significance of reading.  The fact that so many schools and families were there shows the readiness of the people to divert their energies towards reading and books. Accolades to both OUP and ITA for making people understand that books are not just pieces of paper, and that books and reading can open up minds to infinite worlds of information and entertainment. CLF made many teachers, children and parents understand the many different ways books and other teaching and learning materials can be utilized as alternate resources of information and entertainment.

I was also impressed by the participation and professional handling of the various technical sessions. I was invited to moderate the session titled “Why some children can’t read” a talk on Dyslexia by Ms. Shahina Alvi and Ms. Mona Qaiser of the READ Foundation, Karachi and “Challenges of inclusion” a talk by me on the making of Just Like the Other Kids a supplementary reader focusing on inclusion.

Ms. Shahina Alvi and Ms. Mona Qiaser shared with the audience the misconceptions associated with Dyslexia. They urged the need for remedial interventions during the early years of learning. The team also touched upon the various diagnostic and corrective tools and techniques available within Pakistan to address dyslexia and other related learning difficulties. The ensuing discussion also drew attention towards the glaring absence of tools and techniques to measure dyslexia and other learning disabilities in Urdu. There was general agreement that this was not a simple matter of translating the available resources, it required more intense efforts to customize evaluation, diagnostic and remedial materials for users of Urdu and other local languages.

I shared with the audience the making of the supplementary reader “Just Like the other Kids”. The book aims to raise awareness about inclusion in school going children of lower primary grades in Pakistan, a teacher’s guide was also developed by ITA, with the aim to integrate as part of the curriculum. Financed by the World Bank’s South Asian Region “Youth Innovation Fund” and Pakistan’s “Small Grants Program” with some assistance from SIDA-WDR 2006 Equity in Development Grant; the book was to be the first of a series. The audience contributed actively to the discussion and urged the need for writing and publishing more books on inclusion. The audience requested for copies of the book, which were not available as the book was out of print. There was realization that Pakistan was amongst the few countries where inclusion was never taken up seriously. The need to mainstream children with extraordinary needs into the regular system was discussed and the value of raising awareness through reading materials and media was also urged.

Mr Abdullah Sumbal, Secretary Special Education was candid in admitting that a lot still needs to be done for improving the quality of education for children with special needs. He appreciated ITA and OUP for organizing Children’s Literature Festival at such a scale and for dedicating a session on learning disabilities and matters pertaining to inclusion. He supported the audience in their demand for inclusive education in Pakistan and wrapped up the session by opening doors for public private partnerships for improving the quality of Special Education in Punjab, he invited READ to extend its expertise to Punjab.

What next? It is important that this should not stop as a one-time grand event. Such events should be organized annually and also at local (tehsil) levels. The thrust on promoting reading as a key to literacy should be sustained by other efforts such as:

- Activating school libraries (where they exist) including reading time in the timetable·
- Encouraging schools to set up libraries and reading rooms and book clubs ·        
- Involving community in reading activities (parents and other educated members of the society to lead; respected illiterate members of the society can support reading activities by participating through story telling etc   ) ·        
- Engaging High School and Undergrad Students as volunteers/reading guides and supporters

Please convey my sincere appreciation to FOSI , especially to Ms Nargis Sultana for supporting an initiative that will lead to  reforming the learning culture in Pakistan. Best wishes

Huma

Impressions of CLF Funkor Art - Fauzia Minallah

Dear Ameena and Baela,

Children’s Literature festival was organized at the  Children Library Complex on 25th and 26th November, 2011. It was organized by ITA. The main objective of the festival was to promote the reading habit and develop love for books among the children. 

Many sessions were organized for the entertainment of the children e.g., story telling, writing competition, poster competition, stage plays, puppet shows and creative writing. Stalls were also organized by different publishers. Books were available on discounted rates. Children were very excited about the whole event. They visited stalls very enthusiastically. There was also a Program named “BOL K LAB AZAD HAN TERE” that gained the attention of all children. They participated in the program with their full spirit and everyone tried best to compete and win prize. Children were very blissful by attending this kind of event first time in Pakistan.

I also enjoyed the story telling session because I think, all literature, and literacy, is born from the human need to tell stories, to tell stories about one self or about others, to tell stories about the world to better understand our existence, the others and the universe we live in. I found an opportunity to attend those sessions and enjoyed a lot.

A stall by ITA was also organized and displayed training manuals, Health kit, EC kit, Learning material, and Curriculum etc. Visitors showed great interest in our stall. They were willing to purchase our Manuals and EC kit.

My duty was in Auditorium where Nigar Nazar performed her best. She encouraged the students to develop the habit of book reading. Her target was children of age group 5 to 10 years. She used different cartoon characters to attract children. She also explained how children can make Cartoons. Children learnt tips very keenly. She also introduced her written books to the children and convinced them to buy.

The next session in the Auditorium was play “Jungle Jungle Zindabad” by Sheema Kirmani. The play was very influential. It was a translated play and about the protection of environment that how jungles are being affected by anthropogenic activities. The way she presented the whole concept was very appreciable. The audience praised her about the great presentation of her play and characters.

The next play was by “Lal Theater”. The basic theme of the play was to make the young generation realize about their role to improve the image of Pakistan Globally. The play was about patriotism and that was very heart touching. I felt so proud of being Pakistani after the play. It gave me a new spirit.

Overall the whole event was much cherished and everyone learnt  a lot.

Rabia Farooq
IPL faculty

CLF 2011 Was very good Festival because it involved reading, creativity and critical thinking among children. People from other countries, like India, came and shared their readings with us. In the same way other people also shared their readings and a friendly environment was created. There were different book stalls for students and they got an opportunity to read their favorite books. Students participated in many reading related activities and won the prizes. Different well known authors were invited to the festival and we got chance to attend their sessions.Theatre performance was great like “Jungle Jungle Zindabad”which was about animals living in jungle. The theme of the play was that if all the animals are united and face the problems together than why cant the human can do this because if animals together fight and win so human are more powerful than the animals to tackle the problems and overcome them. Hardships can come any time in the life so we should be prepared for that time.
The session I liked most was “Promoting Reading or Closing Minds”. This session was about textbooks that why students feel textbooks are boring and what are the ways to make them interesting?  I shared my experience of teaching practice that books are not boring if teachers are well trained then they can make the text books interesting. However, textbooks quality needs to be drastically improved as well.

Sumaira Muzafar - IPL class of 2010-2013

Man is born for learning exploring searching and practicing in the real world..It was great experience at children literature festival. Informative session with great people rise hope, encouragement and motivation. children literature festival was medium to enhance effecting learning in children. Our cheif guest was "SHAHBAZ SHARIF"... 25-26 november,2011 were a wonderful days of motivation and inducing habit of reading in young generation. Different activities were running at clf like competition , stories telling, puppet show , speeches many others. learning never stop. Human is never old to learn. Learning is life long process. 

Farah - IPL Student

Name: Farah Shoaib
Class: (10th)
Event: Poster  Making “won 1st prize”

Name: Farwa Munawar
Class: (10th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad….
Position:  4th in poetry reading received 2500/- cash prize   

Name:    Marium Zahid
Class:   5
Event: Bol Kay Lab Azad Hain Teray

Name: Saadia Sultana
Class: (7th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad….
Participated: read her poetry  

Name: Saman Ashraf
Class: (7th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad…

Name: Noor-ul-Ain
Class: (7th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad….

Name: Iqra Sattar
Class: (7th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad….

Name: Iqra Younas
Class: (7th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad….

Name: Saba Kanwal
Class: (7th)
Event: Bol K Lab Azad…

Group mentioned below :
Saman Ashraf, Sadia Afzal, Midhat Fazal, Noor ul Ain, Iqra Yunus, Iqra Sittar , Saba Kanwal