VELC hosts National Language Fiesta 2019
Viqarunnisa English Language Club (VELC) held 'Hatil presents VELC 3rd National Language Fiesta 2019', powered by SIBL, from March 8 - 10, 2019 at the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (VNSC) campus in Baily Road, Dhaka.
The theme of this year's event was 'women empowerment', with hundreds of students from Bangla medium and English version schools and colleges, taking part in the 3 day-long programme, participating in 39 different categories.
The first day started with the opening ceremony, which was presided over by Suborna Mustafa, Member of the Parliament and cultural activist as the chief guest of the programme. Faye Nicholls, Teaching Centre Manager, British Council Bangladesh, was present as a special guest, while Golam Ashraf Talukdar, Chairman, Governing Body of VNSC chaired the event. Other members of the Governing Body of VNSC were also present as guests of honour.
Poem Recitation, Poetry Writing, Spelling Bee, Intensive Reading, Extempore Speech, Language Olympiad, Quizzes, Script Writing, and Multimedia Presentation are a few of the 39 categories through which students competed for the first, second and third prizes. Each of the categories had both English and Bangla counterparts that students could choose to participate in.
The competitions took place during the first two days of the fiesta, and were divided into three different levels: Junior (Class 6 - 8), Secondary (Class 9 - 10) and Higher Secondary (Class 11 - 12). Participants joined in not only from schools and colleges in Dhaka, but also from institutions outside of Dhaka, like Sylhet Cadet College and from schools in Savar and Gazipur.
"We had a lot more participants registering this year compared to the previous two instalments. I would say the event has been quite successful", said Saima Wahid, VP, Advertising Department, VELC.
The judges for the Junior and Secondary levels were teachers from higher secondary colleges that did not have a school wing, while university teachers were the judges for the Higher Secondary group. This was done to ensure fair judgement in all categories and levels.
Some of the winners of the most popular categories included: Shazid Hossain from Motijheel Ideal School and College, champion of Spelling Bee (Secondary Level); Omar Fardin Khan from Dhaka Residential Model College, champion of Script Writing (Secondary Level); Subaiya Rupkotha from VNSC, champion of Extempore Speech in English (Junior Level); and Raiyan Ibne Hossain from Notre Dame College, champion of English Olympiad (Higher Secondary Level), among many others.
The closing ceremony took place on March 10, and was attended by Dr. Abdur Razzaque, Minister of Agriculture, who was the chief guest of the ceremony. Special guest included Selim H. Rahman, Managing Director and CEO, Hatil, and other guests included Golam Ashraf Talukdar, Chairman of Governing Body, VNSC, and Hasina Begum, Principal, VNSC. After a speech from all the guests, crests were awarded to the winners on the stage.
When asked about the significance of this event, Jannatul Ferdous, Moderator of VELC said, "We organise this event to encourage students to learn English and their own mother tongue, Bangla. Through this event we want to make learning enjoyable."
After this year's success, the club hopes to have even more participation in the years to come.
The Daily Star was the media partner for this event.