ISLAMABAD: The second day of the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) at Lok Virsa was attended by children from numerous public and private schools from Mansehra, Nowshera, Abbottabad, Peshawar, Gujrat and Muzaffargarh.

The CLF has the distinction of being an event that is entirely socially cross-sectional with activities for children of all ages and from all educational systems.

Atif Badar, a versatile artist with considerable experience in theatre, ran multiple energetic sessions on the second day of the CLF.

The first was a theatre workshop that engaged the young audience in storytelling with expressions, using a Rumana Husain’s publication, “Tota Khan aur Bakri Ara ka Safarnama”.

Atif Badar enacted the story with great verve, showing the children the illustrations in tandem. He then said: “The children will now read the excerpt I was reading – with expressions. It is always more fun to read a story with expressions on your face and in your voice and it is very important to imagine whatever you are reading.”

Rumana Husain, author and adviser to the CLF, shared an overview of the books she has written for CLF, including one of the earliest ones which was about Karachi and another that was about myths and legends of Pakistan. She said: “These are treated as part fact, part fiction. We have our tangible heritage but we also have our folklore, myths and legends which are part of our intangible heritage.”

She participated in two sessions with Atif Badar on the second day of the CLF and also participated in a plenary discussion on the ‘Heritage in our stories: relevance for today and tomorrow’.

Nadine Murtaza, teacher, curriculum writer and storyteller, said: “It’s not every day that kids from every sort of school come together at the same event to enjoy the same event.

Our students took part in a mini march for climate change, listened to speeches and watched performances at Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hain Teray. By far, the showstopper was Uncle Sargam –brilliant, funny, relatable and just plain magic.”

Teach for Pakistan Fellows led multiple storytelling sessions where they engaged the audience in exciting stories in Urdu and English.

Six students from government schools where Teach for Pakistan Fellows teach led a panel on “How would schools run if students were in charge” moderated by Zain Maken.

The children were cognisant of many of the challenges of school management, including issues of school cleanliness, timely transportation, physical and mental wellbeing of students, and extra-curricular activities that help students grow beyond the classroom.

Students of Pehli Kiran Schools participated in a two-day photography workshop before their CLF and all their photography was displayed at CLF and their slideshow was presented in the closing ceremony.

Baela Jamil, founder of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi, said: “This year’s CLF in Islamabad with over 70 sessions and 125 resource persons provided enormous voice to our children. They expressed their views freely in front of authors such as Rumana Husain, media persons like Hamid Mir and education activists such as Mosharraf Zaidi on how they can be given more freedom to write creatively, their literature and writings be given attention in the media and their parents be convinced for schooling girls beyond 8th grade or matriculation”.

She added: “I loved the way children from government schools mingled with those from private schools of all fee systems. Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood spoke about the government’s aspirations for a uniform curriculum to end discrimination.

“The CLF is a complete equalizer, raising the bar on taleem, shaoor and tarbiyat altogether! The best thing industry and government can do is to support these festivals across the country so children in the smallest villages and largest cities can experience them.”

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2019