Fun Run and Learn Programme in Sri Lanka was a total success

The Olympic Council of Asia in collaboration with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games Officials launched the Fun Run and Learn programme at the picturesque city of Kandy in Sri Lanka on November 3 and 4.

The Programme which was held at the Dharmaraja Collage Hall was an exercise to educate the youth in the Asian region about the 2014 Asian Games. The games are officially known as the XVII Asiad which is the largest sporting event in Asia governed by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It is scheduled to take place in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4, 2014.

On the first day of the event fifty students (boys and girls) from the Central Province of the island were invited to take part in the ‘Young Sports Reporter’ programme with workshop conducted by Zhou Jian of the OCA, media department. There the students were taken through many aspects of journalism and reporting that included questions and answer programmes and a mock report writing session.

Though there were several quality submissions forwarded by the students, the one forwarded by Sashin Karunaratne – a fifteen-year-old student from Dharmaraja College was chosen as the most impressive contribution.

Kandy was the 16th city in the Asian Region to host the Fun Run and Learn Pro- gramme and the 5th to conduct the ‘Young Sports reporter’ programme.

On day two besides being a Sunday, more students from the Central Province were present at the same venue to take part in the Asian Games ‘quiz’ programme conducted by the leader of the OCA delegation, Wahid Khardhami. There was a participation of over a hundred youth at this event too.

Here to every ones surprise, fifteen-year-old Sumudu Ratnakumari from remote Village school in Pujapitiya -- a rural hub of the Central province Sri Lanka was correct in all her answers.

The showpiece of the event was held in the after- noon session where over 500 students from the Central Province were flagged off by the Chief Minister of the Province Sarath Ekanayake on a 4km fun run, which took route through a part of the city.

Besides the Chief Minister the head of the Sri Lankan NOC Hemasiri Fernando, the Secretary General of the Sri Lankan NOC Maxwell de Silva and a host of other officials from various government institutions also took an active part at the proceedings.

The winners of the two initial programmes will be afforded the opportunity of travelling to the Republic of South Korea to take part in the next leg of the Young Reporter and Asian Games Quiz events.