Pokhara Child Talent Identification Festival Draws Crowds of Students

Pokhara. The Pokhara Exhibition Centre is witnessing a large crowd interested in seeing the talents of students. The second grand Child Talent Identification Festival, organized by National PABSON (Pvt. & Boarding Schools' Organization Nepal), Kaski, which began on Wednesday, has attracted a large gathering of students and guardians.

The Child Talent Identification event includes competitions and exhibitions in Group Folk Dance, Solo Singing, Drawing, Poem Recitation, Acting, Science and Technology, Handicrafts and English Elocution.

Students and guardians attending the festival openly praised the talents displayed by the students. The festival was vibrant with activities like folk dance, singing, poem recitation, science and technology displays, and acting performances in different corners.

Apart from this, N-PABSON was openly praised by attendees for launching a campaign to provide students with practical knowledge and skills, especially in a time when traditional practices like weaving gundri (mats) and making duna-tapari (leaf plates/bowls) are disappearing in the name of modernity. The festival has truly become a learning ground for the students.

"Recognizing the reality that theoretical knowledge taught inside the classroom alone cannot complete the learning process, this festival was also organized to teach traditionally prevalent skills with the objective of providing students with practical knowledge and skills," informed Hemant Adhikari, Chairman of N-PABSON Kaski.

The sight of students weaving gundri on looms, making doko (baskets) by cutting bamboo splits, and preparing duna-tapari at the exhibition centre brought enthusiasm to teachers, guardians, and students to learn and teach new things.

"For items we regularly use, we are currently in a state where we have to rely on plastic materials from the market," said Chairman Adhikari. "The environment created by the festival allows us to learn skills that will be extremely useful in our daily lives, enabling us to prepare materials at home and use them without depending on external sources."

Even though these items are used at home, a lack of time for learning or the failure to transfer skills to the new generation has left them confused about tasks like weaving gundri, doko, and duna-tapari. Keeping them in mind, the festival has proven to be a milestone in teaching the new generation the knowledge and skills related to items of daily use and old traditions.

A total of 1,500 students from 43 schools affiliated with N-PABSON Kaski will compete in various categories. Winning schools and students will be awarded trophies and medals. Secretary Premraj Adhikari informed that the group folk dance and prize distribution program is scheduled for Friday.