Kuala Belait - A good reading habit is not developed overnight, it takes time to nurture students but the benefits to be reaped from it are immeasurable. Hence, it is a worthwhile pursuit, said the Acting Assistant Director (Secondary) Department of Schools, Ministry of Education (MOE), Awg Koh Hong Puah, who launched the Reading Carnival 2008 at Sekolah Menengah Perdana Wazir Kuala Belait (SMPW) yesterday morning.
He said the development of reading among students has always been a priority with the Ministry of Education. Various reading projects were carried out in the early 1990`s and the Reading Culture Programme was initiated in 1989 to inculcate the habit of reading among students, be it in English or Malay.
"The Reading Carnival is a result of more recent efforts by the Ministry of Education to promote and sustain the reading habit among young people. In many cases, the burden of promoting reading is left solely to one or two departments rather than by the whole school with a well-defined structure involving monitoring and evaluation. Reading needs to be an integral part of the school culture and this can only happen when everyone in school pays interest and be involved in reading," he said.
This carnival underscores the importance on the reading culture that the ministry places and this should not be the end of the concerted effort to get children to love reading, he added.
"It has become increasingly vital for youngsters to take full advantage of the school system in order to perform well academically and eventually be able to contribute to the development of a knowledge-based economy on the regional and international platforms. With English being the international language for commerce, science and technology, developing the skill and love of reading in English will go a long way towards achieving these goals. However the absence of a strong reading culture in the country will also make it extremely difficult to develop a lifelong orientation among its population," the chief guest noted.
While efforts to develop literacy are necessary and laudable, he urged everyone to empower youths for the challenges ahead by ensuring they are equipped with real-world reading and writing skills to face real-world language demands.
"We must ensure that there is resemblance between what is learnt in school and what takes place in the world beyond the classroom," he concluded.
In the welcoming address, school Principal Dyg Cheong Poh Lian stated that the reading carnival is a continuous effort to enhance the school reading programme which started last year in 2007 to support the Ministry of Education`s directives to promote a reading culture in schools nationwide; to inculcate culture of reading in school and to promote a whole approach in enhancement of both English and the Malay language.
"The school reading carnival is jointly organized by the English Language and Bahasa Melayu departments and has commenced since April 28 and will end on May 3, Sunday. The activities include reading activities for students of SMPW, workshops as well as exhibitions where both government and non-government schools were invited to participate," she said.
There will also be a career talk titled `Career as a Writer` by officers from the Language and Literature Bureau; workshop by Mr Gavin Cowley of CFBT Education Services and two reporters from Brunei Press Sdn Bhd will also be delivering a talk on journalism.
The theme of the school reading carnival is `Intelligent Reading, a Lifelong Enrichment`, emphasizing the understanding of comprehension skills and the importance of reading with intelligence.
The carnival centers on three reading skills, namely reading to retrieve information; read with the interpretation of the text context (which is to read in between the lines) and also to read with reflection and be able to answer questions and answers comprehension.
The principal therefore urged all teachers to be supportive in monitoring the reading programme and for all students to recognize the benefits of reading for their future.
Source: www.brunei-online.com (3 Mei 2008)
