Staged at the Nazrul Moncho at Bangla Academy on Friday afternoon on November 9, the panel titled ‘The Joy of Reading’, had experts in the field of education join primary school children in a free-flowing conversation covering both the current and future states of reading in Bangladesh.
Dr Md Ahsan Habib from the Institute of Education and Research (IER) at the University of Dhaka and Bushra Zulfiqar, Director for Education at Save the Children in Bangladesh, were the experts on the panel moderated by Teach For Bangladesh CEO Maimuna Ahmad. Dressed in their respective school uniforms, five primary school students representing a wide range of educational backgrounds joined from various public and private Bangla and English medium and madrasah schools.
These students were Lamia Akhter and Abdullah Bin Alam from Grade 4 of Nawabgonj Govt Primary School, who are currently being taught by Teach For Bangladesh Fellows, Onnesha Orthi from Grade 5 of Nalonda School, Parombrata Chakma-Moitra from Grade 4 of Scholastica and Sajeda Akther from Grade 4 of Madinatul Ulum Women’s Kamil Madrasah.
The young panelists gave candid responses to the moderator’s opening questions about their current reading preferences. What emerged is an interest in fiction over non-fiction among the younger panelists and a desire for opportunities to engage with family and teachers on books. “I want my parents to ask me about the books I read,” said one student when asked what his parents could do to help him grow his habit of reading.
Meanwhile, the experts brought to light the dire state of literacy in the country and its implications for the future. “If children are unable to read, then their learning journey ends there,” said Bushra Zulfiqar, noting that young people who lack literacy skills will inevitably face an uphill battle in Bangladesh’s fast-growing economy. Meanwhile, Dr Habib pointed out that the neural connections developed when children read books enable them to master other competencies at a faster rate. “Reading fiction,” he noted, “enables children to imagine situations they haven’t perhaps faced themselves, and, in doing so, helps them think of how they might respond to future challenges.” In summarizing the panel discussion, Maimuna Ahmad noted that children should be allowed to read books that they find engaging, that limiting children to a prescribed and restrictive booklist hinders curiosity and engagement with books and sometimes literacy itself.
The panel ended with a question and answer round in which the audience both asked questions to the panelists and offered advice to other parents in the audience on how to encourage reading, including modeling the habit to children by reading books oneself.
The panel took place only steps away from a colourfully decorated Teach For Bangladesh stall, where the organization had set up a Pop-Up Classroom where short fifteen minute lessons were taught to children throughout the festival. The stall also ran a successful book-drive, collecting about 200 new and used books to make reading accessible to children in communities where books are not readily available. Finally, it invited all guests at DLF to write their dreams for the future of children in Bangladesh on a ‘Dream Wall’. Within an hour of the panel, there was no space left to write - the wall was filled with dreams for a brighter Bangladesh for our children.
Teach For Bangladesh is a non-profit organization working toward a future in which all children receive an education that empowers them to unlock their full potential. Its flagship program is a two-year leadership development program called the Teach For Bangladesh Fellowship that equips participants to become lifelong leaders of change both inside and outside of our education system, starting as transformational teachers in under-resourced schools for two years and continuing as alumni who will transform Bangladesh.
