PESHAWAR: Trials for participation in the National Youth Carnival were formally launched in 210 educational institutions across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday.

The ceremony in this regard was held at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Peshawar, to involve maximum number of the youth. UET vice-chancellor Prof Iftikhar Hussain, youth affairs DG Asfandyar Khan, sports DG Junaid Khan and a large number of students from various institutions of Peshawar district attended the function.

As part of the youth carnival, open trials were started in different categories, including drama, thematic art, painting, calligraphy, short film, Urdu, English and Pashto singing, cultural dance, music band, Qiraat, spelling bee, Na’at, English and Urdu declamation, Urdu and Pashto essay writing, Bait Bazi, quiz competition, business plan, spot photography, etc.

Besides a grand cultural show, an education expo would also be arranged so that the participants could learn about career development, foreign scholarships and access to higher education in the world’s leading educational institutions.

Around 200,000 students from 210 educational institutions, including 29 public and nine private sector universities and 10 madressahs, will go through the trials. Counters for registration have already been set up for uneducated youth of age 18 to 25 on social media.

The carnival is being designed for the outstanding youth to compete and shine in the presence of national level experts and competitors, said Mr Asfandyar in his brief remarks on the occasion. He said that the government was keen to expand the carnival from the district to regional and provincial levels and then to the national level.

He said that they had set a target of conducting open trials in 210 educational institutions in all the seven regions, including Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Mardan, Hazara, Malakand and Peshawar.

The trials have already kicked off in the University of Swabi, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Women University, Mardan, Hazara University, Swat University, Malakand University, Islamia College University, Peshawar and educational institutions in Chitral, Dera Ismail Khan and Kohat.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017