More children take a leaf out of Let's Read programme

Energy Wednesday 24/April/2019 22:38 PM
By: Times News Service
More children take a leaf out of Let's Read programme

Muscat: More than 600 children from across 29 schools in Oman participated in the 13th annual Let’s Read Children’s Writing Competition this year.
In 2007, Dar Al Atta`s Association launched the ‘Let’s Read Campaign’ aiming to reintroduce the love of reading to children. However, the campaign had a great turnout throughout the years so in 2015 the association promoted it to a main programme - ‘Let’s Read Programme’.
This time, the students were invited to enter the competition by writing an essay on ‘My Favourite Place in Oman’ in both English and Arabic.
“The judges enjoyed reading the entries which highlighted many wonderful places to visit in Oman. The children gave directions to different locations. They described Oman’s glorious coastline and beaches and wrote of ocean adventures. Others described exciting visits to the turtle nesting sites, to lush wadis and palm groves.
“They described sleeping under star filled desert skies, having fun at amusement parks and gardens, visiting interesting museums, praying in peaceful mosques and enjoying musical entertainment in the magnificent Royal Opera House. Some of the students wrote about their home towns with great pride,” said Jane Jaffer, Chairperson for Dar Al Atta’s Let’s Read Programme. She added that the judges were very impressed by vivid descriptions of colourful, frankincense filled souqs, the historical details written about ancient forts.
“They read about relaxing fun-filled days spent at hots springs, sinkholes and gorges. They were delighted to read of the fantastic activities the children pursued in the cool mountainous regions of Jebel Akhdar.
“We plan to publish a book of the winning entries and hope it will become a young people’s guide to Oman,” Jaffer said. An award ceremony for the 13th annual Let’s Read Children’s Writing Competition took place where children in both English and Arabic entries were given prizes. The categories were further divided into age groups – 8-11 years, 12-15 years, and 16-18 years. The winners at the prize giving ceremony took home ipads, underwater cameras, instant cameras, perfumes, sweets, water bottles, bags, maps, colouring books from the Ministry of Tourism and McDonalds meal vouchers.
“The purpose of the competition is to improve the children’s writing skills, to give them research opportunities and to build the children’s confidence in their own abilities,” Jaffer said.