Islamabad - The members of National Assembly (MNAs) participated in a lively storytelling workshop on Wednesday afternoon.
The event was part of Alif Ailaan’s education project ‘Leading Through Teaching,’ designed to prepare politicians to visit government schools in their constituencies and interact with students and teachers through storytelling.
Author and publisher of Kitab, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, led the workshop, engaging the parliamentarians through ‘Moochhander Ki Nirali Moonchhain’ — a curious tale about a circus performer whose moustaches come to his rescue when he has lost all hopes. The politicians were encouraged to think and behave like the 5-year-old. They would be telling the story later, making the session enjoyable for all involved.
Nine MNAs from the Young Parliamentarians Forum participated in the workshop. Among the public representatives present were Aliya Kamran (JUI-F), Rehan Hashmi (MQM), Sheikh Salahuddin (MQM), Romina Khursheed Alam (PML-N), Imran Leghari (PPP), Chaudhry Shahbaz Babar (PML-N), Naeema Kishwar Khan (JUI-F), Syed Asif Hasnain (MQM) and Maiza Hameed (PML-N).
The young MNAs participated eagerly in the workshop and took turns telling the stories they remembered best from childhood and school. They promised to revive the love of learning through storytelling by promising to visit government schools in their respective constituencies in Rahimyar Khan, Karachi, Khairpur, Quetta, Gujranwala, Dadu, Faisalabad and Mardan.
MNAs Imran Leghari and Rehan Hashmi committed to visiting a government school in their constituencies in Dadu and Karachi respectively as soon as the new term begins in April next week. “When we get politicians into government schools to engage with children through storytelling, it will not only inspire the students and teachers but will also help bridge the disconnect between policymakers and public schools,” said an Alif Ailaan representative present at the event.
The storytelling workshop was followed by a briefing on education issues, especially related to the upcoming budget where Alif Ailaan Campaign Director Mosharraf Zaidi urged the young parliamentarians to advocate for greater and better spending on education. “Pakistan spends less on education, as a percentage of its GDP, than most of the countries in the world,” said Zaidi, calling upon the young leaders to work collectively to ensure that education spending is increased to 4% of GDP this financial year.
“For two consecutive budgets, this government has neither helped the provinces substantially increase the quantity of spending nor has it enabled them to improve the efficiency of the existing allocated expenditure,” he added.
JUI-F MNA Aliya Kamran agreed that parliamentarians should come together to accelerate progress on this issue. “The things which will drive the country forward need investment more than anything else,” she noted. “We will do our best to push this issue even from the treasury benches.”
Her colleagues Romina Khurshid Alam and Naeema Kishwar added that this issue could be supported through more and more questions and calling attention notices regarding the education budget in the National Assembly.