Storytelling sessions held at 2 govt primary schools

Islamabad

Deputy Mayor of Islamabad Zeeshan Naqvi and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Nafeesa Khattak held storytelling sessions at two different primary government schools in Islamabad on Friday morning, as a follow-up to the storytelling workshop held last week as a part of the recently-launched School Reading Programme 2016 of Children’s Literature Festival and Alif Ailaan.

Nafeesa Khattak visited Islamabad Model School F-10/2 and had an intimate, lively storytelling session with students of Class 4. She read an Urdu story titled ‘Madaad’ (Help) based on a boy, belonging from a rich household, helping his new friend from a poor family to excel at studies, proving that neither one’s financial status should determine their behaviour towards others nor prevent them from succeeding at academics. She also counselled the children on the importance of maintaining friendships.

Nafeesa Khattak also took a tour of the school with the school’s principal and promised to speak of the school’s shabby condition and missing facilities at the next National Assembly session as well as at the meeting of Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training, and assured the management to get the school’s issues resolved within two months with assistance of Federal Directorate of Education.

In another visit, Deputy Mayor of Islamabad Zeeshan Naqvi visited Islamabad Model School F-7/2-4, where he too spent time with students of Class 4 and told them the story ‘Chalaki Ki Saza.’ Teachers present during the visit requested the deputy mayor to improve the quality of textbooks provided to primary schools and provide them with multimedia facilities to enable them to hold digital storytelling sessions with children. Moreover, Zeeshan Naqvi guaranteed to provide the necessary help for upkeep of the school’s building and took responsibility to improve the quality of education at government schools.

Both Khattak and Naqvi were the first politicians to visit government schools and hold storytelling sessions with children in Islamabad under the School Reading Programme that is aimed at ensuring that poor learning outcomes and quality of education begin to occupy increased space in the education discourse, by engaging politicians, local government officials and education managers with children studying in primary government schools through the art of storytelling.