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Kids Carnival at Banani Bidya Niketon


Friday, March 11. The Banani Bidya Niketon compound came to life in an exquisite euphony as little kids ran from one corner to another, chirping in exuberance with the morning sun. The iridescent jump-pad at one corner rustled and bustled and swayed every now and then, as the aspiring Tom Sawyers tried to reach the sky with their wee jumps. Volunteers hustled around, running their little, but otherwise equally important, errands. While, the waiters at the food-stall prepared hot-dogs.

Somewhere in the school premises, a four-year-old fashionista studied herself in the reflection from a class-room window, fixing her hair and flashing that perfect smile, as her father took pictures and the rest of the crowd chuckled. She was a Baby Photogenic!

An innovative Kids Carnival was held at Banani Bidya Niketon this 11th March. The daylong event played host to various contests for the kids, such as Colouring and Drawing contests, Baby Photogenic contests, Baby Shows, Time Life Quiz, and Baby Intelligence. The contests were divided into various groups according to the age of the participants.

The carnival started around nine thirty with colourful Kids-Carnival badges being distributed among the contestants. The pictures for the Baby Photogenic contest which had to be taken beforehand were submitted and duly surrendered to the judge panel. Soon, the other contests started as well.

There were various stalls in the carnival, too. And, to add a bit of an excitement, one of them actually held Raffle Draw and a unique bid-and-win contest where you could win pretty expensive items by bidding against a minimum price! The first prize of the Raffle Draw included a Dhaka-Dubai-Dhaka air-plane ticket. Hence, the guardians remained chirpy through out the day.

All the contests ended by late afternoon. The prize giving ceremony started around four thirty, with numerous prizes being awarded in each category. Certificates were awarded to all the participants. Hence, everyone left smiling in the end of the day.

All in all, the Kids Carnival at Banani Bidya Niketon was an auspicious event, coming at a great time. The guardians had fun, whether they won prizes or not. Most importantly, it provided the kids a much needed respite from the homework demons, and helped themselves to discover the talent within.

By Tawsif


An Utsab to remember!

Everybody will tell you that life in a medical college means a life, which is almost always immersed in the pursuit of studies. However, Bangladesh Medical and Dental College holds an Annual Sports and Cultural Competition to give a measure of relief from their monotonous daily life and bring in some much needed freshness, which in turn enhances their performance in other fields of life.

This program stimulates the skills and talents of the students in a healthy competition where the learners can pit their wits in areas other than their studies against each other, and have a marvellous time doing it.

The Annual Sports and Cultural Competition 2005 of Bangladesh Medical College (BMC) comprised of sports: Table Tennis, Carom Board, Chess, International Bridge, Ludo, Cricket (25 overs) and cultural events: Poetry Recitation, Extempore Speech, Songs (Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti and Modern Songs) and, last and the most entertaining, Jokes. The prize distribution ceremony for these events was held on 11th March 2005 at the National Museum (Shahid Zia Milonayaton).

The honorable chief guest of this function was Professor S. M. Fayez, Vice-Chancellor, Dhaka University whose speech was a most encouraging one for all students and personnel of BMC who made this program a raging success. The special guests who attended the program were Mr. M. Mahbubuzzaman (Chairman, Hospital Management Committee and Co-Chairman, Executive Council, BMSRI), Professor Mohammad Yusuf Ali (Chairman, Executive Council, BMSRI); and the presiding member was Professor M. A. Zaman (Principal, Bangladesh Medical College).

They all delivered awe-inspiring speeches to the student body enabling them to relate with years passed.

The ceremony included a marvellous performance put on by the students who put on stage shows like dancing and a hilarious mini play about a doctor and his idiosyncratic patients. There was also an invigorating show by Shakila Zafar, one of the most renowned female vocalists of this country.

The students decided to indulge in an impromptu dance session in the aisles that was quite appealing though put to an abrupt cessation as the concert came to an end around ten-thirty; a very apt example of how the time flies when one is having fun.

The cultural week at BMC makes sure that life is not about all work and no play as that would have only resulted making the doctors of tomorrow a genre of dull duds. After all, the people in whose hands one might someday put their very lives into must have an appreciation of life itself, and this event makes sure that the students do not forget to live among all the pressures of studying that comes hand-in-hand with an M.B.B.S. degree.

RS Desk

Smarter kids…. smarter future!

Shafkat has always been quite good in English, but was never sure about his own skills on the subject. He always wanted to have an opportunity to test his skills at an international level. However, he had to satisfy himself by comparing his marks with those of his classmates, most of whom felt the same way as he did.

Although there are many international standard examinations, e.g. IELTS, to test the English skills of grown ups, there are hardly any examinations for the young students to test their abilities and compare their potential with students of the same age from other countries. This has resulted in many talented students being uncertain about their capabilities.

It was at the British Council Auditorium on the fourth of March that many students like Shafkat realised how good they were in English as they received certificates for the Cambridge Young Learners Exams (YLE). Like Shafkat, a good number of students came up with a hundred percent score.

The Young Learners Exams is designed to assess the standard of English of the students aged between 7 and 12 years. It focuses upon the basic English requirements of the students and their creativity. The students were categorized into three groups according to their age/class- Starters (7 to 8/I & II), Movers (9 to 10/III & IV) and Flyers (11 to 12/ V).

To qualify for the final exam, which was held at the British Council Auditorium, the students had to sit for a mock test at their respective schools.

The best made it to the finals, which tested the reading, writing, listening and speaking skills of the students. The tests were simple and, at the same time, entertaining for the students as they included tasks like describing pictures or conversing with group mates about given pictures.

The certificate giving ceremony took place at the British Council Auditorium in presence of some 600 people. The first session of the ceremony included students from two schools- Bangladesh International Tutorial (BIT) and Khaleda Rashid Educare from Gazipur. The ceremony began with the Deputy Director of Examination Services Richard Sunderland and the principals of the two schools handing certificates to the young students.

What added to the excitement of the students in the second session was the arrival of Shuborna Mustafa, the renowned actress, who joined them to celebrate their success. "Knowledge is power and I have seen this power in these children's eyes, it's a good stepping stone for the children to become more confident and successful in the future", she said.

The second and third sessions included the presentation of certificates to students from Changes International School from Narayangonj, Dhanmondi Tutorial, International Education Centre, Onnesha, Darland, Oxford, Marie Curie and DonBosco.

Apart from the young learners, also awarded were candidates of the main suite examinations such as the Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET), which is for more practical uses such as study, social situations etc. and Key English Test (KET), for language used at a higher level. Amongst the award receiving students were Zakaria (Standard nine), who attained more than 85% marks in PET, Fahmida and Sabrina, who passed with merit.

By Tahmina Shafique


Study Buddies
UK
(Research/ Decisions)

Let's say (ahem) that you aren't satisfied with degree and job prospects over here, and prefer taking your chances elsewhere, regarding your future education. Automatically the names United States, Australia, Canada and United Kingdom, come to mind. However, even since the 11th September WTC incident, life hasn't been a bed of roses in the US, especially for Asian Muslims. Although Australia and Canada are pretty good, let's concentrate on UK for the time being, shall we?

Unless you are a meticulously organized person, I'd advise you to begin your 'research' early. You might want to really, really, really go to a particular university/ college, but keep this in mind that they might not also 'really' want you!

Take your time, and research universities that are good. Remember that some universities are ranked on the basis of a specific subject. For example, the university, which is highly regarded for its business department, may not fare so well in its science department.

For finding out which universities are the best in YOUR chosen course, go to www.studentinfor.bizland.com and type your course name for results. Ranking is classified as the 'Times Ranking" and the "Guardian Ranking". Both differ slightly. Once you have the list of universities, and their ranking, go through it carefully to determine which ones you will be applying to. Take factors like location (within the UK), tuition fees, accommodation, and leisure activities, Student councils and so on under consideration.

This can be easily done by going to www.ucas.com, following the link to the list of universities/ colleges, and visiting the respective university websites. Take careful note of entry requirements. There's no point applying to a university that wants 3As in you're A Levels, and you have achieved only 2Cs and 1D.

Self-confidence and expectations are good, but keep them within a limit! Choosing universities is a crucial step, as you have to finally apply on an UCAS form, which limits your choices to only 6 colleges/ universities (and 4 only if you are applying for Medicine / Art and Design courses).

I leave you here for today. Choose your universities, and check out next week's RS to learn more about the process of application in itself. Till then, Ciao!

By Jennifer Ashraf


 
 

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