By Umer Nangiana
More than 51 participants from 12 expatriate schools, a fervent audience and a lot of trophies adorned this literary festival that witnessed the best of many writers, poets and public speakers of future.
It was the 2nd edition of the Annual Inter-school Literary Competition, 2014 organised by Pakistan Education Centre (PEC) at its premises on Monday. The event, which has now been incorporated in the school’s annual spectrum, is held with a view to provide the young generation a solid platform to vent their creative cults in various domains.
The occasion offers the students a wide range of categories, which include humorous speech, poetry recital, storytelling, and essay writing (senior & junior).
This year, a record number of over 51 participants from 12 expatriate schools in Doha participated in the splendid display of instinctive capabilities, innovative ideas, latent talent, and persuasive writing and oratory skills. The young writers and poets kept almost everyone in the audience at the edge of their seats.
“Such events at schools nurture the capabilities of the students and shape their personalities with a view to prepare them for their future lives,” said Shahzad Ahmad, the Ambassador of Pakistan to Qatar, who was the chief guest at the occasion. Ahmad is also the chairman of the Board of Governors of PEC.
The other guests of honour who joined the Pakistani ambassador in encouraging the school children in their literary endeavour were Crescente R Relacion, the ambassador of Republic of Philippines to Qatar, and Dr Yehia Z El Agha, Senior Adviser and Deputy Head of Mission at Embassy of the State of Palestine to Qatar.
They were given a red carpet welcome by PEC’s reception team. Addressing the participating students, Ahmad said it was participation that matters more than winning or losing.
“Taking part in various competitions boasts up students’ confidence, develops their keen interest and most of all it inculcates communication skills, which then play a pivotal role in all their future endeavours,” said the chief guest.
He also emphasised on the “dire need” to establish friendly relations and to deepen contact between nations. “Living in multicultural country like Qatar, it is necessary to communicate among communities and this type of competitions serves as a bridge to bring the people of varied cultures together,” added Ahmad.
A vibrant performance by the KG students of the host school, clad in colourful dresses and representing various countries, added a lot of pep and colour to the morning.
The performance was followed by a heart touching national song presented by Saba Mujeeb, Sara Javed and kulsom Taj. The festival witnessed closed competitions in all categories. The competitions were adjudged by neutral adjudicators comprising journalists and educationists from International House, British Council, and Qatar University.
The adjudicators were Azmat Haroon, Aslam Ismail, Ayub Haidery, Sampath Priyashantha, Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Touseef Ahmed, Aman Qureshy, Vivian and Rebbeca.
In the humorous speech contest, Ibrahim Qutab (PEC), Kalil Nacionales (Philippine International School) and Ayesha Abdul Quddus (Bright Future School) clinched the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively.
In the Poetry Recital Competition, Anagha Menon (Birla Public School), Laila Akel (Palestinian School for Girls) and Deepak Sajikumar (MES Indian School) notched 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively.
Bharadwaj Swaminathan (Birla Public School), Meghna Rosa Thomas (MES Indian School) and Andrea (Stafford Sri Lankan School) bagged 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively in the Essay Writing Competition (Senior).
The junior category of the Essay Writing Competition was won by Aliza (PEC), followed by Saumya (Stafford Sri Lankan School) and Keanne Vera (Philippine International School).
Gladys Sanna (Ideal Indian School), Dhivyashri Ramesh (DMIS) and Maryam Fatima (PEC) were declared 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Story Telling Competition.
The champions in all categories were given trophies and merit certificates by the chief guest and the guests of honour.
Addressing the gathering, PEC Principal Nargis Raza Otho felicitated the winners and commiserated those who did not win in their respective categories due to one or the other reason. She also praised everyone involved in making the festival happen.
