The Education Director of Mind Builders School, Lagos, Mrs. Bolajoko Falore, has urged the Governments at all levels- federal, state and local- to build community libraries in order to salvage the dwindling reading culture among youths in Nigeria.
The Education Director gave the advice on Saturday during an exclusive interview with CEOAFRICA in commemoration of the World Book and Copyright Day.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set aside every 23rd of April, to celebrate the World Book and Copyright Day as part of its efforts in promoting global reading culture.
The ace Educator explained that the task of reviving the fast dwindling reading culture is a collective effort of the home, educators and the government.
She noted that government can do its part by building libraries in every community as is the case in other nations.
“The home is the first agency of education; we cannot do without the home. The school only builds on what the home has achieved. From the school, we go to the larger community.
“So it is supposed to be a joint responsibility. In England, they have community libraries where people can either go to read or borrow books.
“So if the government can do that and restructure what is on ground, the reading culture will be significantly impacted,” Falore stated.
She further expressed that “We have a community library in Yaba, but the last time I went there I was disappointed, there were no new books.
“So I’m advocating for government at all levels to build libraries; national, state, and local community libraries.”
As she emphasized the importance of reading, she asserted that there are strategies educators and other stakeholders can put in place to ensure that children and other members of the community embrace reading.
“You cannot do without reading. That’s just the truth. Whether it is hard or soft copy, reading is very important. And if we are coming from this angle, then we should encourage all the stakeholders to put in a lot of innovations to make reading attractive to these children.
“When you make it attractive instead of boring, they’ll read. It shouldn’t be done in a conventional way, it should be made attractive so the children can love it and be eager to be part of it. The reading culture is dwindling, but there are a lot of things we can do as educators to revive it”.
Mrs. Bolajoko called on parents to do their best in ensuring that their children embrace reading, adding that parents are to be role models to their children in this regard.
“I look at parents as their children’s role models. They are supposed to be like eyes and ears to these children. But unfortunately, most parents themselves don’t read because of the influx of social media. They think they can get everything on social media. So the reading culture is continually declining.
“What parents can do is to begin reading to their children when they’re around 6-9 months. They should read story books to them when they want to put them to sleep. Actually, they might not understand it at this point, but they’ll grow up with it.
Parents should embrace the idea of reading along with their children, just to encourage them. Children need that encouragement to see that reading broadens one’s knowledge,” she said.
While she encouraged e-reading, the Mind Builders School’ Boss advised parents to moderate their children’s use of mobile devices and the internet as there is the possibility of them straying from the main objective.
“There are some e-books now. We do e-reading in our school, we also do creative writing.
“Parents should monitor how their children use these reading devices and ensure they don’t go where they are not supposed to.
“These children are very smart, you may think they’re reading, but before you know it, they will go somewhere else,” she stated.
