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Children\'s Literature Festival at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)
Celebrating Two Decades of Education as Child Rights
Welcome and Happy New Year! |
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ITA provides evidence based quality education services across Pakistan through large flagship programs embedded in innovations and partnerships
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| The year of 2020 came as a celebration of completing 20 years of ITA: a celebration of providing quality education services across Pakistan- through its flagship programs: The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), Children\'s Literature Festival, Teachers Literature Festival, School Improvement & Early Childhood Education, Ending Early Child & Forced Marriages, Advocacy for Human Rights & Violence Against Women and Embedded in partnerships-gender sensitive approaches. |
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| Rumana Husain\'s Storytelling at the British Council Library, Karachi, December 21st 2019 |
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 Over 40 children gathered from diverse schools, communities and linguistic groups to hear a lively storytelling session at the British Council Library, Karachi. Rumana Husain, the amazing children\'s author read from two of her latest bi-lingual books. These were \'Jingles in the Jungle / Jungal may Mangal\' and "The Winged One/Parunwala". Not only children, but the parents joined the session too to learn the art of storytelling and to practice it later with their kids at home. The interactive session engaged children, encouraging them to ask questions and imagine! . |
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| Launch of Street Library - An initiative of the Office of the Commissioner Karachi, December 25, 2019 |
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 "Libraries are the kinds of places where people with different backgrounds, passions and interests can take part in a living democratic culture. They are the kinds of places where the public, private and philanthropic sectors can work together to create entitlements that are truly transformative." This is precisely what makes initiatives like the street library so important fully owned by so many in a large city. CLF contributed to the first street library of the city through its books and magazines!
Continuing the tradition of creating impact by promoting book reading, the street library was launched by Commissioner Karachi on December 25, 2019. The lights shimmered through the wooden bookshelves attracting young and old alike reviving the culture of book reading. We believe, such initiatives should be promoted and encouraged in all vibrant societies.
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| Reviving Kalash Culture and Folktales: Kalash Winter Camp,
24th -30th December, 2019
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 Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi(ITA) and the Children\'s Literature Festival (CLF) extended support to Top Educational Assessment Masters (TEAM) to conduct one week winter camp from 24th-30th December, 2019 in the famous Kalash Valley for social welfare and cultural preservation of its indigenous people. The camp celebrated folktales of Kalash through reviving the stories of "The big Foot (Barmano), Naga Dehar, Bajure (Dehar of prophesies), the story of Sharakat ( Markhor) Galwadl etc". The objectives of the camp were to engage people in livelihood activities for reducing poverty and inequality and to promote peace, harmony and citizenship education. Local teachers and youth were imparted knowledge and skills about heritage, environmental responsibility and conflict resolution without violence. The authentic folklore stories reclaimed during the winter camp will be published by CLF in 2020! |
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| Children\'s Literature Festival (CLF) Lahore 2020- Pre Festival Activities |
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"Our Super Hero Edhi Baba" Storytelling With Maria Riaz, January 2nd,2020
Maria Riaz the author of "Our Super Hero Edhi Baba" was visiting Lahore from Muzzafarabad; she generously agreed to the storytelling session at the Children Library Complex (CLC) on January 2, 2020. She read her famous book about our National Hero Abdul Satar Edhi, and introduced the kids with the value of Large Heartedness and Power of Care & Generosity. Followed by storytelling, children were engaged in an activity which encouraged them to find a superhero within themselves as they can become a superhero too by helping others. |
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 Nadia Jamil & "Bhagoday Choohay Ki Kahani": CLF Good Will Ambassador, January 3rd,2020
Cheering up children with a captivating story of "Bhagoday Chohay Ki Kahani", actor and child rights activist Nadia Jamil, the Good Will Ambassador of CLF conducted storytelling at the Children Library Complex on January 3rd, 2020. The library echoed with laughter of kids who were mesmerized by Nadia\'s art of Dramatic Storytelling. With her lively personality Nadia Jamil had children fully engaged as she instantly created another story "Shareer Bakra". Not only children but the parents enjoyed the session too. |
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Rehearsing for the Big Day!
Atif Badar a versatile theatre artist, part of the core team of CLFs in Pakistan, geared up for CLF-Lahore by preparing girls and boys from 3 different schools of Life Skills for Kids (LSK) a day before CLF on January 20, 2020 for a theatre performance. The children at LSK schools loved the interaction as they enjoy performing in front of large audiences! |
Kitab Gari: Mobilizing For CLF Around the City! January 18-20, 2020
Kitab Gari and its teams reached every corner of the city spreading word about the CLF coming to town on January 21-23, 2020! Children gathered around Kitab Gari attracted by the books which they borrowed on the spot to read; some kids read individually whereas some children enjoyed reading story books in group. The team shared the advertisements with parents/families. |
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| CLF On Air-FM 95 Punjab Day Rang, January 20th, 2020 |
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 Tahira Mir from CLF team along with few students from LSK School talked in detail about the upcoming CLF-Lahore at a FM Radio Show 95-Punjab Day Rang on January 20th sharing an open invitation to Lahoris to attend the CLF-Lahore as an inclusive largest learning festival for our children, teachers and families.The students from LSK School shared their experiences from previous CLFs they have attended and the imapct it has had in their lives. Irum Prvaiz, an LSK student said" CLF has given me self confidence as I perfomed a play in front of a huge audenience last year; and from a story chain activity at CLF, I learnt how to write a story with the help of few words, it motivated me to write a story and participate in the recent CLF-Young Author Award." ! |
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| "A Basant of Books" at 64th Children\'s Literature Festival (CLF) January 21-22, 2020 |
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| The 64th CLF promoting the love for books, learning through creative expression, and critical thinking, was nothing less than a "Basant of Books". The Festival gathered a huge audience of children and teachers, 30,000 strong from different schools government, private sector, non- formal and special need schools on 21st and 22nd January at Children Library Complex. The venue was already packed by 8:45 am showing the excitement and curiosity of 1000s of children waiting for a different kind of wonder learning at the CLF Lahore! The air was filled with the CLF Tarana/Anthem spirit of "Hamein Kitab Chahiye" as every child was heading towards different sessions, books and library stalls for learning activities. Covering 16 active learning strands, ranging from Storytelling, Creative writing, Theatre, Kathak dance and Poetry workshops, Sports for Active Citizenship, Book Launches, STEM, Digital learning, Cinema Ghar, Mobile Libraries; and Plenaries on Girls Education, Promoting Libraries and Child Protection and Climate Change Emergency. |
25,000 participants
125 resource persons
20+ stalls
35 partners
10 sponsors
1 musical event
3 book launches |
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| CLF Blessed with Two Inaugurations! |
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 Sami Ullah Chaudhary, Provincial Minister Food, Government of Punjab graced the event as the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony of CLF-Lahore on 21st January,2020. In the words of Mr. Sami Ullah Chaudhary "I have heard people calling activities like these as co-curricular but I would say Children\'s Literature Festival is Mainstream Curriculum". Ms. Mariam Khokar Chairperson CLC, the host elegantly welcomed the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor at the CLF Lahore 2020! |
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 Dr .Fouzia Saeed, Director General of the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA), a scholar and expert in heritage, culture and expression was the Guest of Honor at the early morning Inaugural. She was full of appreciation for the CLF as a great initiative by ITA/CLF and all sponsors and partners in Pakistan and committed to support from the platform of PNCA to the CLF/TLF. MPA Talat Fatemeh Naqvi also graced the occasion and was mesmerized by the children and the elaborate lay out of the CLF as a truly largest learning festival of Pakistan! |
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 Baela Raza Jamil the founder of CLF/TLF shared the magic /Jadoo of the festival urging the children and teachers to enjoy and learn from each and every segment of the 2 day Children\'s and 1 day Teachers\' Festival in Lahore! Rumana Husain the CLF Adviser acknowledged all Sponsors and support Partners of the CLF. |
| "Aao Sunawoon Aik Kahani": Dramatic Storytelling |
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 Storytelling with expression and action grasps the attention of children and enhances their involvement with the story. "Read with Expression and Sing Aloud Stories/Song" were popular sessions. They enabled immediate connection of children with the story who expressed their feelings and imagination in these interactive storytelling sessions with wonderful theatrical storytellers! Each session of the versatile storytellers of Suno Kahani Meri Zubaani and Alif Laila Book Bus Society, Fauzia Minallah, Rumana Husain, Atif Badar, won the hearts of children!
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 Reclaiming our culture and heritage and diversity in 21st century is essential to celebrate our cultural assets. Celebrated educator and author of Pakistan" Rumana Husain pictorially introduced children to the history of Lahore in a session "Lahore Lahore Hai! Lahore Ki Tareekh Aur Virsa". The session sensitized children to explore their history and gave them knowledge about the different time periods of Lahore, Mughal emperors and historical places of Lahore. Likewise, the State Bank Pakistan Museum team conducted round the day workshops on Model Making/Replicas of Coins and educated children about the history of Pakistani coins, currency and stamps through posters. Children interactively enjoyed the history of money and the State Bank.
The Harappan Pottery session by the famous potters of Pakistan introduced children to the Indus Valley Civilization. Children were taught how to made clay pots and Harappan clay items Sheherezade Alam an internationally renowned Pakistani ceramist worked with the children as did the potter from Harappa -Shehrazade has coined for CLF "I belong to Harappa and Harappa belongs to me" celebrating our connection with the place and its heritage. Fauzia Minallah adviser, children\'s author and artist joined in the fun too!
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 All sessions of CLFs and the Teachers\' Literature Festival were held in rooms named after literary/ culturally important personalities and places to promote and pay tribute to our legendary personalities. The main ground was named the Walled City Lahore Gardens- "Nai Reesan Shehr Lahore Diyan" a truly magical space that celebrates the city! It had the famous gates of Lahore as photo booths such as Lahori Gate, Mochi Gate and Akbari Gate with elaboration about their history; children, teachers and parents enjoyed knowing the importance of places and Gates. Other rooms were calledMaharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak, Arfa Karim room, Faiz Ghar, Bano Qudsia and Vehra Baba Bulleh Shah. |
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Aao Kathak Seeikhein by Har Sukh /Bina Jawad
 The audience at the inaugural session of the CLF-Lahore was spell bound with the Kathak Dance performance by the children of Harsukh: Idara e Ilm o fun on Bulleh Shah\'s poetry "Parh, Parh, Alam Fazal Hoya" Dressed in red costumes the girls and boys of Hursukh beautifully showcased the art of Kathak dance choreographed by Bina Jawad the founder of Harsukh. Kathak workshops were on offer for the two day festival where many children learnt the basics of this beautiful dance.
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Learning through Role Play and Drama!
 Children set the stage with wonderful theatrical performances. OUP\'s effort to inculcate learning through role play and Drama did magic! Khaled Anum, Raheela Baqai and Atif Badar judged the competition in which children from different schools performed from a collection of plays "Bachon k dramay" by Imtiaz Ali Taj.
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OUP\'s sessions Art of Book Making
 A fun activity of Bookmaking by OUP lit a spark of creativity in Children! Children wrote amazing stories with illustrations turning them into beautiful Books! This inclusive workshop developed a positive attitude towards books, writing skills and a sense of authorship in children.
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Alif Laila Book Bus Society: Mobile Library And Lively Sessions on Arts/Crafts And Reading
 Standing amidst the crowd of children Alif Laila Book Bus attracted children through its lively sessions on Arts and Crafts and storytelling. Children cheerfully visited the bus and enjoyed reading books.
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Fauzia Minallah\'s amazing Story Telling Sessions: Non verbal with a dazzling Mural and Digital Story of Amai The Bird of Light
 A fun activity of Bookmaking by OUP lit a spark of creativity in Children! Children wrote amazing stories with illustrations turning them into beautiful Books! This inclusive workshop developed a positive attitude towards books, writing skills and a sense of authorship in children.
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Khwarizimi Science Society and Science Fuse set up the most amazing interactive displays and activities for children and teachers on getting to know science better; the wonder generated by the science activities was thrilling for the diverse audiences.
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Oxbridge kindled love for Science through STEM learning Activities!
 These learning based fun activities encouraged children to do experiments and solve problems using their critical thinking skills. Fostering creativity in children through amazing activities Oxbridge made children to create and innovate ideas. And we are quite aware when it comes to innovation and creativity children outstands everyone!
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Digital Learning
 Children created wonderful digital school stories! They recorded their memories and stories in form of videos and storyboards on digital media. How amazing technology is when we talk about innovation and creativity
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Creative Writing Through Story Chain Activity!
Story chain unfolds the magic of constructing a whole story with a string of words selected by children themselves from a couple of pages from the dictionary. On CLF and TLF story chain activity was conducted by Fizza Abbas and Umair Khan from ITA/CLF attended by a large number of children and teachers. The session highlighted the importance and use of dictionaries for children and teachers to help with creative writing and illustrations by children themselves! |
Expressing Through Poetry & Painting!
Writing Poems is Fun and so Is Painting! Combining both the mediums of Creative Art, Tahira Mir from CLF conducted a Poetry Workshop in which children beautifully expressed their thoughts, ideas and feelings in form of poems and transferred their poems on the canvas- Creating a new amalgamation of Poetry & Painting! |
Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School (SNPETHSS) Packed with Action!
 The famous Sanjan Nagar School known for its creative contributions to learning performed in several strands; they enthralled audiences with the rendition of the CLF Tarana by Zehra Nigah, Huma Safdar\'s Punjabi theatre "Naang Val", Moshaira on Faiz and his contemporary poets; Storytelling, Puppetry, Poetry and Mime! Over 100 students performed at the CLF Lahore!
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| Our Good Will Ambassadors Rocking at the CLF Lahore! |
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Some of the CLF Goodwill ambassadors attended the Festival supporting Theatre, Music, Storytelling and Plenaries on Child Protection!
Ali Noor, Ali Hamza and Rakae Jamil rocked the stage on 21st January with children\'s songs and poetry by Ismail Merathi, Sohail Rana, and Noori specials! They were sung by our Celebrities and the SNPETHSS Choir!
Juggun Kazim joined the Child Protection plenary titled "Hamari Hifazat Kon Kary Ga-on Child Protection" with lively awareness tips to children of all ages about how to protect themselves. She was joined by Sara Ahmed from the Child Protection Bureau, Punjab, Justice (Retd.) Nasira Iqbal and Varda Dar from the British Council.
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 Khaled Anum CLF Good Will Ambassador acquainted children with Books in a musical way. Singing "Bachon K Geet" along with children Khaled Anum showed how music can mediate leaning and "Kitab Dosti". |
| Teachers\' Literature Festival |
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| The 6th Teacher\'s Literature Festival (TLF) was held at Children\'s Library Complex on 23rd January, 2020. The day long festival served as an amazing opportunity for the professional development of teachers with an emphasis to practice and implement the core idea and activities of CLF in the classrooms. Attended by 2000 teachers, the festival was filled with excitement and eagerness to learn creative and interactive ways of communicating effectively in classrooms! |
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 Dr. Arfa Syeda Zehra an eminent Pakistani educationist and Urdu language expert talked about Understanding language for literature. The intellectual talk developed in teachers a sense of belonging to Urdu and encouraged them to use Urdu in their classroom teaching. |
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| We humbly extend our gratitude and bundle of thanks to our great supporters; our sponsors
Children Library Complex, Open Society Foundation, Oxfam, Oxford University Press, British Council Library, Life Skills for Kids, Lahore Grammar School, Roots Millennium School and Sarwat Mohiuddin.
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| Atif Theatre Cooking, British Council, Citizens Archive, Chidren Library Complex, Dotte &Anesi, EDKASA, Har Sukh, ILM Association, Independent Theatre Pakistan, Iqbal Academy Pakistan, Kafka Welfare, Khwarizmi Science Society, Knowledge Platform, Kuch Jaan Lo, LGS School System, Life Skills for Kids, Open Society Foundation, Oxford University Press, Oxbridge, Oxfam, Pakistan Girl Guides Association, Pehchan, PILAC, Rafi Peer, Rang Bharr Day. We are grateful for all the continuing and gracious support we had from your side. We are looking look forward for more fruitful collaborations in the future! |
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Broadening Horizons: Transforming Lives through Literacy and Gender Equality, January 24th,2020
On 24th January, 2020, ITA/CLF team hosted a technical meeting with the famous US-based Education Company Room to Read to assess the nuts and bolts of the upcoming "Pakistan Literacy Project". ITA/CLF team welcomed the delegation Ms. Linda Crossman and Mr Joel Bacha. Baela shared the 20 years journey of ITA and its flagship programs working to improve quality education across Pakistan. The strategic planning for establishing 20 school libraries in two Districts of Pakistan i.e. Lahore and Bahawalpur and adapting 25 Room to Read books in Pakistan was discussed in depth to help children learn creatively through student centered environment. R2R team shared exciting spaces and adapted books in multiple languages. Fingers crossed by ITA to become the first partner of R2R in Pakistan! |
Winged One in Paper Garden: Storytelling with Origami workshop at the British Council Library: January 26th, 2020
CLF Team conducted an interactive storytelling session with Origami featuring Rumana Husain\'s bilingual book "Parunwala/The winged One" at the British Council Library, Lahore, on January 26th,2020. Props and origami made this workshop full of fun for over 40 children! They were completely involved in becoming a part of Asma\'s journey to find her winged one-Moringa Seed. The participants made characters in origami through which they could imagine different settings of the story e.g. birds, butterflies, fish, kites etc. . The session concluded with children proudly showing their work to parents in the audience! Kudos to our team : Tahira Mir, Inam . and Fizza Abbas for making this so colorful and exciting for the children! |
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| Thinking Beyond Borders: One-Day Session with Children of Child Protection Bureau on January 29th, 2020 |
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 On 29th January, 2020, Kitab Gari travelled on its wheels to reach the beautiful children at the Child Protection Bureau Welfare and spread the light of the books and stories it carries. Based on the theme of \'Thinking beyond borders\' CLF team organized a session which encouraged Children to think out of the box and question the surface level realities and dive into its depth to understand the hidden meaning. A storytelling session of \' Pani Ki Kahani\' authored by Sarwat Mohiuddin, inculcated the idea of critical thinking among Kids. The session also introduced children to the idea of low cost-no cost and recycling in which they skillfully made amazing products from waste material. |
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| Young Authors Award 2019-2020 |
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| CLF-Young Author Award launched in September,2019 proved to be a wonderful opportunity for young writers in Pakistan to showcase their talent through words. It was amazing to see an overwhelming response from all over Pakistan. Children were sending not only their stories but poetry and Ghazals too. Receiving bundle of entries every day both by post and email reflected the passion and love of our younger group for writing and creative expression which made the YAA team to extend the submission date from November 30, 2019 to December 10th, 2019. The extension turned out to be a bonus for maximizing participation of children from distant areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and KPK. A total of 1100 stories are received out of which 422 were short listed in the first round. At the moment, the jury decision is in process and will be officially declared on February 20th,2020. The winning publications will get an opportunity for mentorship with authors and illustrators prior to publishing and holding book launches at CLFs and other venues! The prestigious Young Authors\' Award will be given to the 6 wining child authors in both age groups. |
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