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Awakening of the Soul

PKSF holds National Convention of Cultural and Sports Programme

DHAKA, Mar 22 2017 - Amid festivity, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) yesterday showcased its experiences of the pilot phase of a programme on promoting sports and cultural activities among school children in the country.

The PKSF, an apex development institution established by the Government of Bangladesh in 1990, has for over two decades been working for poverty alleviation and beyond-poverty development in Bangladesh in a sustainable way. The Cultural and Sports Programme (CSP), launched in March 2016, stemmed from its belief that proper flourishing of finer values among children and youth is key to ensuring sustainable human development. And promoting sports and cultural activities can keep them away from social ills, moral degradation and dangers of radicalisation.

The Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor was the chief guest at the event titled “National Convention: Cultural and Sports Programme”. The event was chaired by PKSF Chairman Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman. Md Fazlul Kader, Deputy Managing Director (Programme) of the PKSF made the opening presentation outlining the  details of the CSP.

 

 

The  State Minister for Youth and Sports Dr Biren Shikder who was a special guest stated “Radicalisation and terror activities have plagued the entire world. However, the millennia-old cultural heritages of ours can shield us from this threat. We should promote the sports and cultural activities among children, especially among the young adults who are thought to be more vulnerable to radicalisation. And the PKSF has surely taken a laudable initiative and is doing an extraordinary job.”

Dr Kholiquzzaman, a renowned economist under whose guardianship the PKSF has launched a number of ground-breaking initiatives aimed at ensuring inclusive development, explained why the CSP was integral to the PKSF mission of helping the country achieve the UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

“A nation must ensure socio-economic and humane capacity development in order to make sustainable development. And, instilling the sense of finer values and knowledge of best traditions of humanity among children and youth is a prerequisite to that,” he emphasized.

Asaduzzaman Noor stressed on the need for awareness among parents. “Today’s parents burden their kids with books and homework, ignoring their need for participation in sports and cultural activities. As a result, we now have more examinees than students in the real sense.”

 

 

Extensive programmes like the CSP can be a very useful tool for combating pervasive threats like radicalisation of the youth in Bangladesh, he commented. “The government will work with the PKSF more closely to expand the Programme as fast as possible.”

The half-day Convention ended with a colourful cultural programme in which students of different schools under the CSP came up with performances on unique cultural heritages of different ethnic groups living in Bangladesh, and on the historical events of the country.

 
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