PakMed Info Forum

Children’s Literature Festival Lahore concludes

Children’s Literature Festival Lahore concludes

LAHORE: The last day of the three-day-long Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) at the Children’s Library Complex (CLC) on Saturday was marked by fun-filled activities designed to cater to the participating children, with an aim to promote the culture of book reading among youngsters and help them develop critical thinking and creative writing.

The festival was attended by thousands of children from across Pakistan, who took part in several sessions conducted by Baela Raza Jamil, Haseena Moin, Mira Hashmi, Khalid Anum, Ameena Saiyid, Nadia Jamil, Fehmida Riaz, Saife Hasan, Zambeel, Imrana Maqssod and many other renowned personalities.

Events on the last day included Raja ka Do Seeng by Zara Mumtaz and Punjabi storytelling by Samiya Mumtaz.

Samar Minallah spoke about reaching out to children through films, while storytelling sessions by Nadia Jamil, Mira Hashmi, Samina Ahmad and Sarmad Khoosat were also part of the last day. Sessions on the topics of honouring our Nobel laureates, role of media in promoting reading and libraries, how to use media in promoting reading and creativity in classrooms were also held throughout the day.

Oxford University Press Managing Director Amina Sayed while speaking at the closing session stated that the purpose of organising the Children’s Literature Festival was promotion of reading and education.

“We have to face the fact that Pakistan is among the bottom countries of the world in terms of literacy level and it is not just the question of quantitative literacy but also of the quality of education that is being provided. We all need to change this. Education is the business of all of us,” she said.

Baela Raza Jamil (Director Programmes for ITA) emphasised on the use of technology for improving the quality of education. “The CLF now in its third year, has seen 15 festivals, including this one, all over Pakistan. We are committed to gathering like-minded people, organisations, and institutions for promotion of literacy and culture of reading among the children from a young age and wish to expand it to all corners of Pakistan. It is one thing which can help eliminate ills from our society, be it terrorism or corruption.”