Promoting Reading Habit among Students

CBSE issued circular no. 54, dated 21st October, 2009 highlighting the need for promoting reading habit among children. With the introduction of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation right from the primary classes, the importance of fostering interest for reading books among children of all ages has increased. It is essential that schools impress upon children that reading good books apart from the prescribed text books not only widens their horizon but also uplifts their spirit by instilling in them higher values. Keeping this in mind, the CBSE Board has already sent as an annexure to the circular mentioned above a list of recommended books in English for different age groups.

The CBSE Board had also requested the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children to prepare a list of Indian Authors and their books as suggested Reading Material for Classes 5–12. The list received from the Association is annexed to this circular.

The list is a representative selection of the work of different Indian authors and has been made keeping in mind the interests of children as well as educationists. It includes genres such as science fiction, historical fiction, mystery, adventure, real life stories, environment, sports, plays etc. The CBSE Board is confident that the recommended books will provide good values to children through entertaining and interesting reading material they can identify with.

The Circular No. 54 mentioned above also contains information about the purpose of reading, the skills to be developed and the techniques and procedures that can be adopted to enrich the reading experience of students. As part of the Formative Assessment reading projects can be undertaken in a systematic manner. You are requested to discuss the contents of this circular and the circular No. 54 under reference with your teachers and librarian and develop an effective action plan for promoting the reading habit among students.