Love of books sparked by curiosity

Love of books sparked by curiosity

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With fewer and fewer students reading literary works, calling
them "dull and boring", a scholar of literature blamed the
teachers for not making reading interesting.

Nasti M. Reksodipuro, a retired lecturer of the School of
Literature at the University of Indonesia, pointed out that
teachers should give a brief introduction about a certain book.

"Teachers only assign the students to read a book without
giving an indication as to what makes the book interesting to
read," she told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Mere compulsory reading, she said, was not the right approach
to make youngsters interested in reading literary works.

"The teachers need to let them know a bit about the story, the
different cultures and mind-set of the people back then when it
was written, how it differs from the age we are living in right
now. Then, they'll be interested to read the story."

Indonesian students' reading levels are poorer than other
Southeast Asian countries, it was revealed in a survey conducted
in 2003 by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization's (UNESCO) Program for International Students
Assessment.

The survey revealed that 38 percent of students had serious
difficulties in using reading as a tool to advance and extend
their knowledge and skills.

Nasti asserted that the core issue was not how to make
students interested in reading literary works, but how to make
them interested in reading. "It must start as early as elementary
school."

"But you have to do something to raise children's interest in
reading. You cannot just wait for them to go to a library and
read a book. You have to take the initial approach to introduce
them to the habit," she added.

She has started to apply the new approach at her own library,
Pustaka Kelana, in Jl. Kelapa in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

With colorful walls and a fun setting, the library looks more
like a playgroup than a library.

"It's designed in such a way children will feel comfortable to
read here. This way, they'll think of reading books as a fun
thing to do and will want to come back for more reading," she
said.

She explained that there is also a story-reading session
together with children at the library.

"What I usually do before the reading is to briefly discuss
things that are related to the story that we're going to read,"
said Nasti.

For example, she said, before reading a story about Eskimos,
she would ask the children if they knew what an Eskimo looked
like, where they lived, and how cold it was. They would open the
world map together and try to find the place.

Then, after children were anxious to hear the story, she would
begin to read it.

"This is the interactive method that children need so that
they become curious, and thus will be challenged to find the
answer in the book."

If teachers and parents unrelenting pursue the creative
approach, children's interest in reading would hopefully
increase, Nasti remarked.