January 19, 2006	Thursday	Zilhaj 18, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 18: A five-day educational contest featuring different events to test and promote skills and talents of students mostly coming from private schools of the country got under way on Wednesday.

The competition named ‘7th International Schools Educational Olympiad’, comprising events like group discussion, quiz, elocution, arts and crafts exhibitions, cyber fair, photography exhibition, model display, theatre, film making and singing was declared opened by the Director of British Council Karachi, Marcus Gilbert, at a ceremony attended by hundreds of jubilant and enthusiastic students and teachers.

According to the chairperson of the Olympiad’s organizing body, Parveen Kassim, who is also the principal of Karachi High School, the multiple events competition had been aimed at providing students the opportunities to develop confidence and character through interactive exchanges going beyond the classroom.

About 87 schools located in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Islamabad, are taking part in the educational Olympiad, which was held for the first time in 2000.

Over 60 teams from different schools took part in three events including math and science quiz, group discussion and photography contests on the first day.

Before declaring the competitions open, Mr Marcus, the BC director, along with other dignitaries and hosts of the show, lighted the symbolic Olympiad lamp.

In his brief statement, he remarked that students mostly belonging to private schools meant for elites would surely enjoy learning through the Olympiad and add to their abilities leadership qualities as well.

He suggested the organizers to focus on their own region and be inspired by countries leading there, while stimulating young minds for creativity and healthy competitions.

He also praised students presenting choirs at the inaugural ceremony and said that among others, he too was enthralled by the melody and traditional singing.

In her keynote address, Rita Akhtar, Senior Programme Officer, US Educational Foundation in Pakistan, one of the sponsors of the Olympiad, said the original Olympiad in ancient Greece, more than 2,500 years ago, was also an educational event.

She said it were the Greeks who first wrote about democracy and liberal education. Liberal education to the Greeks meant education of a free person, as opposed to that of a slave, while nowadays it meant a broad education involving arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences.

The ancient Greeks were concerned about liberal education because they believed that only people who were skilled in public speaking, who could analyze a problem and respond to it and understand the psychology of their audience were fit to be citizens and leaders, she added, saying that a free man would need to know many things if he were to be entrusted with making decisions for himself and other people.

She said the discovery of the ancient Greeks that a well-rounded education was necessary for exercising citizenship was institutionalized in the United State more than in any other country on earth.

The US since shortly after its birth has since then been committed to the ideal of education for the rich and poor alike. “Not just to the idea that everyone should get some education but that every person should be given the kind of education that was available to rich gentlemen in Europe,” she noted.

While maintaining that public schools had long been an important part of American life, Ms Rita said that quite early in the history of her country, even some of the greatest universities were built in rural areas and not just in cities as in much of the rest of the world so that farmers and their children could attend.

She said that in Pakistan, as in much of rest of the world outside the US, children were made to studying just science or arts; a student giving equal attention to both was unusual here.

“But how will we be good citizens if we do not understand something about other peoples and cultures, about the environment, about economics, and so much more?” she questioned.

Earlier, the singing groups of students presented traditional songs and won applause from the audience for being attuned to folk and old culture. The national and ISEO anthems were also played on the occasion.

Teams of the Lahore Grammar School, Lahore, St Patrick’s High School, Karachi, and The City School, Karachi were declared as first, second and third position winners respectively in the Maths and Science quiz competitions, which were conducted by a noted quizmaster from India, Barry O’ Brian.

The results of the photography competition and group discussions would be announced on the last day of the Olympiad.

Azhar Jamil, Marcus Gilbert, Nuzhat Kidvai, Barry O’ Brian and Andrew Scolt were judges of the group discussion, while Noorjehan Mclai, Shamyl Khuhro and Tapu Javeri examined the photography set-up.