Reading for pleasure

Jehangir Hussain

Jehangir Hussain

Though reading is  an indispensable activity in the life of educated citizens, everyone does not enjoy reading all the time.

And there is a difference between a student glancing through his textbooks  and reading for pleasure.

But in the age of social media young people spend less time to  read.

Even then reading is evolving. Reading books aloud is not enough anymore.

The new generation wants something exciting and new not found in books, especially textbooks.

So, it needs to go deep to find out how to restore reading as the number one habit as it once was.

These days, young ones read mostly textbooks written according to the academic curriculum, the structure of which is far from popular amongst most of the students.

Some of the university students like to read textbooks, because they are diverse, and sometimes it seems to them that they are using their vocabulary, said Musharraf Hussain  studying Economics.

He never read a book other than textbooks in his school-college days.

Shafiqur Rahman, studying industrial and production engineering said, ‘If I get a book of my interest, I enjoy reading it till the end.’

Shahnawaz Siddiqui loves to read textbooks in-depth.

When she finds a particular topic difficult or not interesting, she never gives up but reads it time and again keeping examinations in view.

Jishan Hussain, a student of computer science and engineering blames social media for the young ones not reading for pleasure.

Young ones find themselves in a situation in which even if they love to read they can't do so consistently as many senior citizens do.

A business administration student said, since most of the books for the  university students are written by foreign writers, the contexts do not match with the existing situation in Bangladesh.

There are other shortcomings in the textbooks prescribed for the university students in Bangladesh.

Students think, and correctly, that it is necessary to find out what they want or suit them and their future.

Practical aspects should get priority, think teachers as well as students. Assessment tests ought to focus on pertinent questions that can be answered precisely in fewer words.

The faculty should be able to generate students’ interests in subject matters instead of teaching them for mere certificates.

According to a study done by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) children, 10 years and older,  who read books more than one book per week, would have better vocabulary, and command over mathematics by the time they reach 16.

It also equips them with better command in general knowledge and decision-making ability later in life.

In 2020, King Edward-VI Handsworth School for Girls in England implemented its ‘2019-2021 Reading for Pleasure Policy’ which outlines how staff, students, and parents collaborate to instill the love of reading among the young learners.

According to the Sustainable Development Goal Tracker portal of Bangladesh, the proportion of children and young people who achieved leastwise a minimum proficiency level in mathematics was 57 per cent, reading Bangla –54 per cent,  and reading English- 19 per cent  at the end of lower secondary school in 2015, which were far below the targets of 85 per cent, 85 per cent, and 75 per cent set for 2030.

An improvement in the situation calls for hosting frequent book-hunting competitions for a quiz based review to find out interest in reading non-text books or a quiz or visualization created from textbooks that pique readers' attention.

In the case of textbooks, students' ability to making graphs, charts and the like could be tested.

Making reading for pleasure could be included in the programme with at least one hour’s time dedicated to reading with no homework or revision obligations, for reading books of free choice and keep track of  global current affairs by reading newspapers, articles or browsing websites.

jehangirh01@gmail.com