Children’s day is celebrated around the world as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the UN Charter on Children’s Rights and the welfare of the children of the world. Since its deceleration, Children’s day continues to be celebrated around the world in more than 100 countries to honour children.
The British Council in Sri Lanka has been celebrating Children’s day for many years by organising fun learning activities for children. This year together with Save the Children and the Ministry of Justice, the organisation celebrated the day on Saturday 12 October 2013 at Kingswood College, Kandy.
The day included a vibrant programme of interactive events and workshops. This included mind-opening forum theatre performances on the issue of child abuse by ‘Shakthi’ – British Council’s forum theatre group, comprising Sinhalese and Tamil youth from post-conflict areas. A series of educational workshops on selected articles from the UN Charter on Children’s Rights were also held along with a drama workshop conducted by popular local actor, Palitha Silva. The drama workshops ended with a performance by the students, which was refreshing.
British Council Country Director, Keith Davies, said, “‘Creating opportunity worldwide is at the heart of the British Council’s purpose. Today’s celebration is yet another great example of how the British Council gives young people in Sri Lanka the opportunity to express themselves creatively through English and helps build their confidence through networking and fun-learning activities.”
Over 1,500 students attended the British Council’s Children’s Day celebrations from over 80 schools from the Kandy and Matale districts. All the schools that participated in the event are involved with the British Council’s ‘Connecting Classrooms’ programme.
‘Connecting Classrooms’ is one of the British Council’s many programmes, which focuses on young people. The programme is designed to increase young peoples’ skills, knowledge and responsibility towards society ranging from social action to diversity and youth issues.