Page 231 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer
P. 231

3.  Corresponding with  4 weeks of a month, each class  VI of a public
                       school was divided into reading circles comprising 4 children each,
                       and each reading circle used to be provided one copy of the selected
                       magazine on the first working day of every month. Each of these 4
                       children in every group was supposed to keep the possession of the
                       magazine for one week, thus completing the rotation in 28 days.
                   4.  The order of handing over the magazine was required to be changed
                       every  month.  For  example,  a  student  in  a  reading  circle  who  got
                       magazine last of all in one month might get the magazine in the first
                       week in the next month, and so on.
                   5.  Once  the  28  days’  cycle  was  complete,  the  rest  of  2-3  days  of  the
                       month were to be utilised by the relevant Urdu teacher to arrange
                       discussions amongst the children in the Urdu period on the contents
                       of  the  magazine  and  the  learnings  which  the  students  had  made,
                       such as what did they like the most, what they did not like, any new
                       word  or  term  they  learnt,  and  other  things  of  the  sort.  Those
                       discussions  were  in  fact  used  as  a  subtle  tool  to  encourage  and
                       appreciate  those  students  who  had  been  reading  the  magazine
                       attentively and were thus able to take active part in discussions, and
                       make others, who had not done the task of reading at all or had done
                       so halfheartedly, realise that they should also do justice to the task
                       in  future.  However,  while  doing  so,  it  was  to  be  ensured  that  the
                       students took the exercise of book reading not as a burden but as a
                       joyful activity.
                   6.  It was also expected that not only the students who kept the custody
                       of magazine for a week would read the magazine but their brothers
                       and sisters at home would also get an opportunity to do so. In other
                       words,  we  were  targeting  our  students  as  well  as  their  siblings
                       through this campaign of promotion of book reading.
                   7.  Once  the  reading  cycle  was  complete  every  month,  the  magazines
                       were  placed  in  library  so  that  the  students  of  other  classes  could
                       access them too.

               LAUNCHING OF THE ONLINE MAGAZINE, ROSHNI

               It  was  further  thought  that  merely  book  reading  would  not  achieve  the
               required  results.  In  order  to  truly  inculcate  the  love  of  literature  in  our
               children and polish their skills, a platform should also be made available to
               them to express themselves and give vent to their creativity, critical thinking
               and  imagination.  Also,  needless  to  say  here,  unless  used,  a  skill  remains
               latent  only  and  might  even  be  lost.  After  thorough  deliberations,  it  was
               decided that in this age of information technology such a platform should
               ideally  be  web-based  as  it  would  not  only  save  costs  but  would  also  give
               greater  flexibility.  Moreover,  there  would  be  no  space  constraints  for  the
               contributors. Accordingly, Roshni, an online magazine, was launched on May
               2, 2019 for the students of the public schools in Muzaffargarh, where the
               students  could  send  their  contributions  of  all  types  and  genres,  such  as

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