Education on a broader concept

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardane called upon parents and teachers to encourage schoolchildren to engage in educational as well as extra-curricular activities to keep them away from becoming TV addicts and watching programmes not suitable for children that are aired on television channels.

Minister Gunawardane said some television channels air quality programmes for the benefit of schoolchildren and they should be encouraged to watch such programmes.

Minister made these observations at a school prize-giving at Ratnapura which was attended by a large number of children, parents and teachers.He said knowledge building of children should not be confined only to books. They should also acquire a broad knowledge of day-to-day happenings in the world. They could gather a great deal of local and international information by using the internet, the Minister pointed out.

"Therefore, it is the duty of both parents and teachers to allow children to indulge in extra-curricular activities in addition to general school education, so that the country could produce educated citizens."

He said many children in today's society are in the habit of accessing unsuitable websites on the internet, even at homes in the absence of their parents. Such websites could easily pollute young minds and ultimately lure the children into unlawful activities. Minister Gunawardane appealed to parents to keep a close watch on children when they use the internet and guide them to access only educational and social programmes.

Hajj Festival is today

Muslims of Sri Lanka join the rest of the world to celebrate the festival of sacrifice. Hajj is one of the fundamental pillars of Islam.

Hajj is called the festival of sacrifice because of the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim (Alaihiwasallam) his wife Hajara and son Ismail to adhere to the commands of Almighty Allah in fulfilling his obligation. Millions of Muslims perform Hajj in the holy city of Mecca to remember the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim (Alaihisalathu Wassalam).

Today, still responding to that original call of Prophet Ibrahim (Alahiwasallam) and following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallahualahiwasallam), over two million people from every corner of the globe gather at Mecca to perform their Hajj. Along with the profession of faith, daily prayers, a month-long annual fast and charity to the poor, Hajj is one of the five tenets of Islam. Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for every Muslim, male or female, provided he or she is healthy enough to travel and has the means to undertake the pilgrimage.

Muslims, after attending special morning prayers will visit friends and family, with many dressed in their best clothes. Special food will be served for the guests and greetings exchanged. (Thakabal Allahu Minna Wa Minka - O Allah accept us and others).On this holy day Muslims pray to Almighty Allah to restore much needed peace and understanding among Sri Lankan Muslim brothers and sisters and also usher in peace and harmony among all communities.

Let us on this 'Eid' day pray for forgiveness and seek Almighty Allah's blessing to build a just and prosperous society.

A very happy Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim readers.

Text and pic: Ruzaik Farook

Colombo International School celebrates 'Infant School Book Week'

The celebration of the Infant School Book Week at Colombo International School [CIS] was held on October 3 at the CIS auditorium.

The Infant School Book Week was organized by the Infant section at CIS as a unique part of the school curriculum where the children are encouraged to celebrate books and the gift of reading.

It is a novel way of showing the children the beautiful and adventurous road that lies in reading and making them start taking steps towards a great journey of exploration.

At the event the students performed parts of their favourite fairytales and stories and it was fun and heartwarming to see the little ones having the time of their lives dressed up in various costumes and performing songs and dances on the stage.

All the activities were book-related and aimed at raising the interest of the children in reading from a young age.

Throughout the Infant School Book Week, students from each class participated in competitions held at class level. The younger students were encouraged to express their thoughts during story time and illustrate them freely enabling them to be use their imaginations and be creative.

The older students were assigned to read a story book and summarize it by rewriting it in their own words while identifying the main parts of a story.

The Book Week concluded with the presentation of awards and certificates, encouraging the students for their hard work. Every student was presented with a participation certificate.

Promoting reading is a difficult task in this digital age and the initiative taken by the by CIS to do so successfully is a great achievement . It is important to give children an opportunity to explore the wonders of books by themselves because this would make them become more in tune with nature and values as human beings.

CIS effort in making a positive change for the betterment of the future generation is indeed laudable.

A blossoming writer

Every one of us is born with some form of talent. Recognizing and developing such innate creative skills at an early age is essential in order to break into the respective field at a professional level in the future.

Parents as well as teachers must encourage children to hone in on their talents and create a suitable environment for them to build up on them. Jude Shannon Lucian ,a Grade 7 student of St. Anthony's College, Kandy is fortunate in being given such encouragement by his parents as well as peers.

An avid reader, especially of mystery books written by the famous children's author Enid Blyton, Jude has drawn inspiration from the books he reads to write his own adventure and mystery stories making good use of his writing skills.

He recently launched his first story book in English entitled The Adventure at Mystery Lake. It's all about the adventures three friends, Mike,John and Will have during summer holidays exploring the ruins of an old castle and its dungeons.

The boys during their escapades discover a secret passage but they also have a nasty shock. You will have to read the book to know what it is. The book is his second attempt at writing.His first book was written in Sinhala.