Daily Times

The Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) 2019 announced the appointment of 14 CLF Goodwill Ambassadors on Tuesday.

“I am thrilled to welcome fourteen (14) celebrated individuals as CLF Goodwill Ambassadors who have come on board to support, promote and advocate the cause of education in Pakistan,” said CLF founder and Idara-e-Taleem-O-Aagahi (ITA) CEO, Baela Raza Jamil. “These individuals have demonstrated true excellence in their respective fields and I am confident that they will use their influence, reach and star power to promote CLF’s goals of modernizing Pakistan’s archaic education system, making quality education accessible to all Pakistani children, and promoting modern techniques of learning and instruction.”

The impressive roster of CLF goodwill ambassadors includes actors Ahsan Khan, Faysal Qureshi, Hasan Khan, Juggan Kazim, Khaled Anam, Nadia Jamil, Omair Rana, Rana Majid, Sami Khan, Shamyl Khan and Usman Butt, writer, speaker and cultural commentator Ally Adnan and musicians Ali Hamza and Ali Noor.

The talented individuals expressed their happiness with their appointment as CLF goodwill ambassadors and spoke enthusiastically about their plans to support the organisation.

“All hope for a successful, prosperous and thriving Pakistan lies in the future of the country’s children,” commented Ali Hamza. “CLF is playing an extremely important role in building a solid foundation for that future. I admire the inclusive, egalitarian and equalising philosophies used by the organisation to promote education in Pakistan. In addition to happiness and honour, I feel immense gratitude on becoming a CLF Goodwill Ambassador because the position will allow me to contribute my two bits towards fulfilling a crucial social responsibility,” he said.

The impressive roster of CLF goodwill ambassadors includes actors Ahsan Khan, Faysal Qureshi, Hasan Khan, Juggan Kazim, Khaled Anam, Nadia Jamil, Omair Rana, Rana Majid, Sami Khan, Shamyl Khan and Usman Butt, writer, speaker and cultural commentator Ally Adnan and musicians Ali Hamza and Ali Noor

“CLF is the epitome of my conviction that positive change occurs only when a person believes in one’s own self,” said Ali Noor. “The system of education advocated by CLF fosters CLF Goodwill Ambassador a sense of self-confidence, independence and individuality in students. The inspiring environment of CLF creates a thrilling experience not only for participating children but also for adults. The organisation creates non-traditional means of learning, using art, dance, literature, multimedia platforms, poetry, puppetry, storytelling, and theatre, in which children become active participants in the process of education. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I plan to work on creating enjoyable, inspiring and liberating learning experiences for children,” he said.

“I am honoured to have become a member of the CLF family,” said Faysal Qureshi. “I have always been passionate about education and am very happy to have found the right platform to support the cause of education. The lack of a proper, solid education system has always been a core issue of my country. I have known of the tremendous work done by CLF for quite some time and am glad to have been appointed as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador. Education is an essential investment for the future of our country and a necessity for our human, cultural and economic development. Sadly, it has never received due focus in Pakistan. I, therefore, plan to work diligently as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador and do my part in helping spread modern education and internationally recognised techniques of learning and instruction throughout Pakistan,” he said.

“I am delighted to be a CLF Goodwill Ambassador,” said Juggan Kazim. “CLF promotes a culture of creativity, imagination and multi-sensory stimulation beyond traditional classrooms and textbooks. It affords a unique platform that introduces the joys of reading, self-expression and critical thinking to children. All children deserve to experience the diversity of the world and to understand their rights, responsibilities and obligations in making the world better. This is only possible when they are given safe spaces and platforms to celebrate creativity and instilled with wonder. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, I will share the amazing work done by the organisation, all over Pakistan and encourage greater participation in the movement,” she said.

“There is a lot that is good about CLF but what I like the most is its equal and equitable treatment of all participants, irrespective of age, caste, colour, creed, financial status, religion, and social standing,” stated Khaled Anam. “It is this fair treatment that demonstrates the core benefit of education: equal, just and similar opportunities for everyone. I received the President’s Pride of Performance Award in 2018 for my contributions towards the arts and for using the media to promote child education. The cause has always been very important to me. I have been a supporter of CLF for a long time and, as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, will now champion its goals of spreading accessible modern education nationwide, with renewed vigour and energy,” he said.

“Planting literature in the lives of children is like planting trees,” claimed Nadia Jamil. “The love for literature will always give them the shade of a story, the oxygen of creativity, the fruit of knowledge, and the companionship of a friend. CLF is a forest inhabited by the best of children’s literature. It caters to all Pakistani children, without any discrimination, and is truly inspiring, exciting and progressive. More importantly, it is a lot of fun. I am deeply honoured and proud to be a CLF Goodwill Ambassador,” she said.

“CLF has modern and decidedly revolutionary ideas about education, instruction and learning,” remarked Omair Rana. “The organisation believes that mere classroom learning is incomplete and ineffective; it needs to be augmented by exposure to the arts, a wide spectrum of sensory experiences, and exercises that challenge, inspire and stimulate the mind. I was an educator long before I was an actor and wholeheartedly subscribe to CLF’s ideas on education. It, therefore, gives me great pleasure to join the organisation as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador and do my part in revolutionising the system of education in Pakistan. The system will succeed only if it makes students better people by focusing on ethics, integrity and character along with encouraging creativity, ingenuity and originality,” he said.

“CLF does not believe in the traditional methods of teaching and learning, which are largely archaic and take all fun out of education,” noted Sami Khan. “I subscribe to CLF’s philosophy that learning should encourage creativity, discovery and invention and be fun both for teachers and students. As a CLF Goodwill Ambassador, my goal will be to use my celebrity to popularize the cutting-edge methods of learning espoused by CLF and help build a nation where everyone has access to affordable, effective and modern education,” he said.

“I am glad to be a CLF Goodwill Ambassador for an organisation that has worked, for years, to spread education, all over Pakistan, in a modern, effective and systematic manner,” said Shamyl Khan. “The work done by CLF will go a long way towards ensuring that future generations of Pakistanis lead lives of respect, happiness, health, prosperity, and peace. I support CLF wholeheartedly in its crusade to make education affordable, accessible and widely available all over Pakistan. As a CLF goodwill ambassador, I will work with the CLF team to promote and highlight the causes championed by the organisation,” he said.

CLF is a social movement founded by Baela Raza Jamil, CEO of ITA, and co-founded by Ameena Saiyid, Founder and Director of the Adab Festival, in collaboration with a number of private and public organisations. The goal of CLF is to promote a culture of learning, which focuses on creativity, imagination and multi-sensory stimulation, and not just on school textbooks, tests and examinations. CLF is a flagship programme of its parent organisation, ITA.