Muhammad Jalaluddin Shamil
CHITRAL: On August 30, the concluding ceremony of Independence Month Celebration 2019 was held at AKHSS Chitral. The ceremony was presided over by Dr. Riaz Hussain, President of Ismaili Council Lower Chitral and the Chief Guest was Mr. Basharat, Assistant Professor University of Chitral. Guests representing from various walks of life were present on the occasion.
The celebration was unique in the sense that the school had arranged “Independent Month Celebration” under the theme “Hum Sub Ka Pakistan” instead of reserving only 14 August for celebrating the independence of Pakistan. The student activities continued throughout the month of August were contests in different categories including English Speech Competition on the topic, “Pakistan For All”, Urdu Speech Contest on the same theme, Mili Nagma Contest with and without instruments, English Debate Contest and Classroom Decoration and Presentation Contests. All these activities continued throughout the month to commemorate the struggles behind the independence of Pakistan. 100% of the students of the school were involved in various activities of the month-long celebration.
Among the wonderful activities of the celebration, one unique feature was that, students through their class room presentations, decoration and chart works, linked the SDG’s of UN with 56 different topics/SLO’s in Pakistan Studies. This was a novel way of organizing activities, where not only the syllabus of Pakistan Studies was covered but the students were also given opportunity to research and understand the SDGs and came up with their suggestions as what we should do as a nation to help in achieving the 17 Global Goals.
The concluding ceremony was meant to appreciate all these activities of the students, which they participated in during the whole month of August 2019.
In the concluding ceremony, sample items from each category of the whole month celebrations were presented by the students to show their talent, creativity and their love & nationalism for the country. The objectives of the celebration as shared in the concluding ceremony were; firstly, to inculcate in the students’ patriotism and loyalty for the country. Secondly, to provide all the students opportunities to practice their intrinsic skills, potentials and capabilities by encouraging them in participating in the various segments of the celebration. The last objective was to help students to study the topics contained in the National Curriculum of Pakistan Studies by linking them with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
The President of the ceremony, Dr. Riaz Hussain while speaking on the concluding ceremony appreciated the school for introducing a novel way of celebrating the Independence month through creative ways. Refereeing to students’ activities on stage, he said that students should have the courage to express their point of view confidently and must also have the courage to accept people having different point of view. He expressed deep concerns about the state of affair in Indian occupied Kashmir and was of the opinion that, the independence of Kashmir is possible only by a strong support from the government and people of Pakistan.
The Chief Guest, Mr. Basharat, while speaking on the occasion said that, students should give priority to their studies if they wish Pakistan to prosper. He also shared that, to bring Pakistan in the road of prosperity, the nation should learn from its mistakes.
The ceremony was concluded with vote of thanks by the Principal, Mr. Tufail Nawaz. The Master of ceremony were Mr. Sajid Muhammad and Shah Majid ul Haq of Grade 11 and 10 respectively.
