LAHORE: The three-day Teachers’ and Children’s Literature Festival will begin at Children’s Library Complex on Thursday (today) to promote reading, creative writing and critical thinking among children.

The festival is being organised by the Idara-i-Taleem-O-Aagahi, Oxford University Press in collaboration with Open Society Foundations, CLC and the School Education Department of Punjab.

The literature festival, which began three years ago from Lahore, has become a nationwide social movement in response to the low levels of learning in Pakistan.

The 15th children literature festival will be a ticket-free public event for all three days and for all school systems of Lahore, Punjab and anywhere in Pakistan from 9am to 5pm. The programmes at the festival will be instrumental in promoting the culture of reading for creativity, imagination beyond textbooks and tests. As many as 15 books authored by children will be launched at the festival.

CLF founder Dr Baela Raza Jamil says literature festival aims at changing the education system, practically demonstrating what works to capture the hearts and minds of children, youth, teachers and parents. She hopes the festival will help inculcate the love of reading among children, who will be visiting the festival.

She says the Teachers’ Literature Festival will be held for the first time in Lahore, where around 1,500 to 2,000 teachers are expected to engage with the core concepts of CLF to practically promote reading and critical thinking in their classrooms and schools.

Published in Dawn, November 27th , 2014