JEDDAH, 23 December 2006 — Students who attended the Leadership Training Camp organized by the Indian School Parents Forum (ISPAF) here have emphasized the importance of such programs and said the four-day event was instrumental in enhancing their self-confidence and improving their communication skills.
Sixty-two students from international schools participated in the seven workshops at the four-day event led by eminent personalities including Toastmaster trainer Guna Shekharan, Professor Shoukath Ali of King Abdul Aziz University, Siraj Wahab of Arab News and Suresh Kumar, operations manager of Saudi Ensas.
Opening the training camp, Salah Karadan, a member of the IISJ managing committee and former ISPAF general secretary, said the groundbreaking event was inspiring and valuable.
Shekharan made a presentation on personality development while Shoukath Ali spoke on time management and Wahab on journalism and media.
Sofia Saleem of the Ministry of Health, A.P. Ahmed, Kumar and Basheer Vallikkunnu conducted workshops on crisis management, Malayalam language and literature, knowledge management and oratory skills respectively.
Shuaib Kazi, chairman of the IISJ managing committee, distributed certificates to participants at a function chaired by T. Assainar, president of ISPAF.
Assainar said ISPAF has decided to organize more such innovative programs for students and parents for their social and educational advancement.
In his 60-minute presentation, Siraj Wahab gave the students a general idea about journalism and the minimum requirements for joining the profession. “Why bother to become a journalist?” he asked the students.
“The only answer that works is simply because you feel you have to. You will suffer insults, shunning, shouting, long hours, criticism, low pay and overwork. If you are the right material, it won’t matter a tinker’s cuss,” he added. He continued: “As a true journalist, you may feel left out, but you will stick to your guns and find that the reward is, after a long time, the respect of those who matter: Your readers.” He emphasized the importance of reading to become a successful journalist. “Read everything from cigarette packets to encyclopedias, instruction books for vacuum cleaners to Tolstoy.”
Wahab also explained the differences between print and broadcast journalism. “The differences are many, but perhaps the biggest one is that of words... Two forms of communication divided by a common language. The same words, but with differences in delivery and interpretation by the journalist and the reader or listener.”
Reshma Basheer of Class XI at the IISJ was all praise about the program. “It was entirely a new experience for us and helped us a lot in personality development,” she told Arab News.
“Siraj Wahab took us to a new world as we did not know anything about journalism. We have heard a lot about on medicine and engineering but very little about journalism,” she said.
Reshma said she was attending such a program for the first time in her life. “I wish ISPAF will hold similar workshops on different topics including career guidance.” She said attending such programs was essential for students here to compete with their compatriots back home who get better exposure and chance to communicate with others.
For Nidhal Karadan, the camp was interesting and informative. “It taught us how to manage time, how to develop our personality and improve public speaking,” he said. “It was very good,” was the comment of Nada Rashid, also a Class XI student.
“We rarely get such an opportunity. It provided a venue to at least some of us to come up with new ideas and interact with others.” Gokul Ramesh said such conductors of workshops should be given more time while Bashir Abdul Ghani urged organizers to select useful topics and qualified speakers.
