Bogor student wins reading contest<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Ten-year-old Rizky Muharom is a regular elementary school student
\nfrom Bogor, West Java. But he can turn himself into an old man, a
\nwoman or even an animal when reading a story.<\/p>\n
The boy won first prize on Saturday in a story reading contest
\nfor elementary school students across Greater Jakarta. The
\ncontest was organized by the Language Center of the Ministry of
\nNational Education.<\/p>\n
Rizky, a student at state elementary school SDN Pengadilan 3,
\nbeat out 37 other contestants taking part in the event, which was
\nheld for the first time in connection with National Children's
\nDay on July 23 and the month-long Language and Literature
\ncampaign.<\/p>\n
Nabila Meisya Hijriani Siregar, 10, a student at SD Pulo
\nGebang 01 in East Jakarta, won second place, while third place
\nwent to Siti Marliani, 9, a student at private school Yayasan
\nBunda in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Abdul Rozak Zaidan, the organizer of the Language and
\nLiterature campaign, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday the nine
\njudges rated the children on their enunciation and their ability
\nto give individual voices to each of the characters in the
\nstories they read.<\/p>\n
\"The majority of Indonesians read very little because they
\nhave been accustomed to an oral tradition since early age ....
\nThe contest was aimed at improving the reading habit,\" said
\nRozak, who is also the head of the Language Center's language and
\nliterature development division.<\/p>\n
He added that the emergence of sophisticated audio-visual
\ngames had led children to read even less than usual.<\/p>\n
A 1997 International Education Assessment Test found that the
\nreading and writing ability of Indonesian elementary school
\nstudents was only 36 percent, placing Indonesia near the very
\nbottom of the list of the countries ranked, with only Venezuela
\nscoring lower at 33.9 percent.<\/p>\n
\"It is time for us to encourage our children to read more. But
\nthis is not only the task of teachers, but also of parents,\"
\nRozak said.<\/p>\n
Rizky received Rp 1.75 million (US$194.44) for winning the
\ncontest, while the second-place finisher took home Rp 1.5 million
\nand the third-place finisher Rp 1.25 million. Each of the three
\nchildren also received a trophy, a certificate and books for
\ntheir respective schools worth Rp 750,000.<\/p>\n
Contest organizer Elia Iswati said the 38 participants came
\nfrom 23 elementary schools in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok and Bekasi.
\nShe said more students did not take part because there was not
\nenough time to organize the contest.<\/p>\n
\"We hope there will be more participants in the future,\" she
\nsaid, adding that the contest would become an annual event.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bogor-student-wins-reading-contest-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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