How to create a nation of readers

How to create a nation of readers

By John Philips

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The recent plagiarism scandal at Gadjah Mada University reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a Japanese graduate student.

She said her Indonesian classmates routinely have English reading assignments translated into Indonesian at great expense, rather than trying to read the assignments themselves. Most of her classmates are university lecturers.

This is so despite the fact that they were given far fewer reading assignments than most graduate classes in the West, according to the Japanese student, who is attending one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia.

It struck me immediately that the problem of "non-readers" in Indonesia was far more serious than I had thought.

After all, these "students" were among the best students in the country, many were educators themselves, and they would only be able to keep up with developments by reading in English. Now I am wondering how much they read even in Indonesian and what effect this state of affairs might have on the future development of Indonesia.

The good news is that Indonesian educators are aware of the problem and are working on solutions. Some answers are emerging, including a number that were suggested at a recent seminar on promoting reading among children.

Participants in that seminar identified the problem as being rooted both in our schools and in our homes. In other words, we educators are not doing a good enough job encouraging and rewarding the development of reading skills, and we parents are not doing a good enough job creating an appropriate home reading environment which would lead children to look the activity of reading, not as a punishment or a chore, but as a pleasurable and rewarding activity.

What is most surprising about this problem in Indonesia is that the education system has not taken an active role in promoting reading.

My daughter attends a good-quality Indonesian school and yet she rarely receives any reading assignments. Even those she does have are limited in scope, as the questions which accompany the text require little thinking. And I have never heard of any "event" in her class or in school which focused all of the students on the importance of reading and its significance in the education process.

In short, on the basis of what I have seen, I would conclude that the curricula and the educational environment simply do not include much reading skills development. At the same time, I have never approached my daughter's school to offer my assistance as an educator and as a parent.

I believe that for schools to have successful reading programs they need to make reading a "priority" subject and they need to have the active support and participation of parents.

First, schools need to make reading as important a subject as any other, if not more so. Reading, like math, is a basic skill that is the key to opening up the learning of many other things. So, there is simply no excuse for a curriculum not to have significant time set aside for the teaching and practicing of reading skills.

Schools should set aside at least one period a day for the students to read quietly at their desks while the teacher circulates or meets with small groups of students to provide instruction and to assist students who are having trouble.

Second, once a week at a specified time all activity should stop in the school and every person, including the administrators, should take out a book and read.

Third, schools should schedule bimonthly "reading days" in which parents, government officials, and others, including university students, are invited to come and lead children in reading activities.

Fourth, schools should seek the active participation of parents and university students to assist schools in daily reading activities and in building up libraries in every school.

Schools do not need to stop at their school gates: they could become leaders in developing a "reading community". In fact, community organizations and businesses should be approached to support the development of local reader-friendly libraries in which books, magazines and newspapers would be made available to the general public, so that everyone, not just children, become active readers.

Schools could become focal points for the development of literacy training for adults by providing classroom space and instruction for literacy training volunteers.

Universities can insure that their students read more efficiently by regulating the curriculum to include more quality reading assignments and, perhaps, by increasing the number of such assignments.

In addition, universities should develop subject matter reading and writing tests that require critical reading and thinking skills. Reading must become a worthwhile and rewarding activity that no one can afford to do without.

By far the most important element in Indonesia's promotion of a reading society is the home. Parents are always the first and foremost educators of children.

First, children learn from simply watching parents: They learn what is important or valuable, how to behave and what is pleasurable, all from watching their parents.

So the first thing that needs to happen in Indonesian homes is that parents must read regularly, so that reading is seen as a pleasurable activity.

The house needs to be filled with reading materials to the greatest extent possible. As was suggested in the seminar, it does not really matter very much what those materials are, so long as they appeal to the children and are not harmful.

The home, like the school and the larger community, must be a reader-friendly environment in which reading is accepted as a "normal" everyday activity that everyone can engage in.

The writer is an education consultant based in Yogyakarta.