'Play, Learn, Act’ is a project developed by the British Council and supported by grants from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), bringing many different aspects to the children, teachers, school administration staff and parents in Bangladesh through school events, community events and competitions. In August 2015 the project was launched in the presence of the Honourable Governor of Bangladesh Bank and other high officials of the Department of Primary Education, Government of Bangladesh.
Under this project, the British Council organised a book handover programme at a government primary school named Amtoli Staff Welfare Government Primary School in Dhaka on 15 May 2016. The programme’s objective was to enhance English literacy and communication skills of students studying in Class 1 to 5 by introducing books which will develop their analytical and thinking skills and help them express their thoughts and ideas in a more articulate manner.
After a brief update of the ‘Play, Learn, Act' project was presented, Md Anwarul Hoque, Director, Policy and Operation, Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), Bangladesh officially announced the handover ceremony. Barbara Wickham, Director Bangladesh and Francois de Maricourt, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bangladesh was also present as esteemed guests. They handed over 195 books to Gulshan Ara Khanom, Headmistress of Amtoli Staff Welfare Government Primary School. The books were approved by National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) which is the apex body in Bangladesh for developing and revising national curriculum for pre-primary, primary, secondary and higher secondary levels. Not only the books were handed over, but also storytelling sessions were designed to give children a magical and memorable experience that will stay with them beyond the classroom. Moreover, the interesting part was the storyteller was a renowned actress of Bangladesh-Farhana Mithu.
All children benefit from developing their storytelling skills throughout their education. Storytelling provides a natural way of developing rich and active story language for children to recycle in their own story making and writing. Overall, the children really enjoyed the interactive session and were excited to get books.