The program was organized in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and other districts of the country on the same day. [break]
In Bhaktapur, a rally with the participation from 24 schools took place from the Dattatraya Temple to Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Also, a book exhibition was held at Bhaktapur Durbar Square, organized by Bharati Primary School. Inter-school singing competition was also held with the theme of literacy at the same venue.
In Kathmandu, a program was held at Adarsha Lower Secondary School in Naxal. Quiz and spelling contest, drama and cultural shows took place at the school.
Madhu Sudan Raut, an employee at ERDCN who also looks after the library program, said that usually on Literacy Day, schools are closed and many students are unaware of this day. So the program was organized to highlight that.
“Also, we chose this particular school because many people are uninformed about the fact that there’s also a school located inside Bal Mandir,” he said.
He added that in government schools, parents are not involved much. “This is why we also involved the parents in the program by organizing a competition among them,” he said.
Rishi Amatya, of Room to Read, explained that the organization encourages schools and the local partner NGOs to organize this program to highlight the importance of literacy on a worldwide scale.
“We also do so to encourage the students and the community members to use the educational resources available in their library and enlighten the community about the importance of education,” he said.
At Adarsha Lower Secondary School, Room to Read, with the support from ERDNC, has also provided a library program where it has provided books and furniture, among other things. The organization has even published local language books.
Reema Shrestha, a representative from Room to Read, said that the main intention of the program was to highlight the point that every child should go to school and free education should be provided to those who are underprivileged.
“The idea behind providing a library is to attract children and increase the reading habit among them and bring change through education,” she added.
Library Network Nepal, in coordination with Room to Read’s Reading Room Project and ERDCN, organized various programs at Patan Durbar Square as well.
Ten students and two teachers from each of 20 community schools participated in the program. A rally was organized in the morning in which all the students, teachers and other participants walked, displaying placards written with different slogans related to education.
“The government decided to celebrate both International Literacy Day and National Education Day on the same day a few years back,” said Tulsi Prasad Neupane, chairperson of Library Network Nepal.
“We’ve involved students from the community schools where we’ve established libraries,” said Neupane, adding, “Private schools already have libraries, which is why we need to encourage community schools.”
The slogans of the rally mainly focused on marking those two occasions and also emphasized on the reading culture, school library, quality education, and schools as peace zones.
After the rally, they assembled at Patan Durbar Square and about 300 students participated in “Reading Campaign.”
A mobile library expo and book exhibition were also held on the sidelines of the program.
The children books published under the Local Language Publication (LLP) program of Room to Read were on display. Kids were allowed to select the books from the exhibition and they read them during the Reading Campaign.
“Reading habit is declining and we believe programs like these will help revive the reading culture among kids,” said Neupane.
“These programs should be organized regularly as they provide a platform for interaction between schools, teachers and students. I also believe that these programs will help increase the enrollment rate and decrease the dropout rate in schools,” added Neupane.
He believes that a common effort by all stakeholders is required to make educational programs more effective.
After the reading program, an Inter-School Lower Secondary Level: Book Review competition was organized. Some books were provided to the participants and they had to read all of them. The students reviewed the books they selected in their own writing.
They also organized Inter School Primary Level Memory Game, an exercise in which the students were shown a book while also reading out the title of the book and they had to write the title of the books displayed afterwards.
Sanju Bajracharya, senior program associate of Library Program at Room to Read, said, “This day is a medium of awareness and reading related activities should be conducted to encourage kids and develop reading habit among them.”
“Our government has to organize different interaction programs and other educational activities on such days as the private sector is small and government has a bigger role to play,” said Mini Joshi, officer of Monitoring and Evaluation of the same project.
Raj Bhai Shakya, operation director at Room to Read, said, “People don’t know about the importance of functional literacy. So they aren’t sending their kids to schools,” adding, “That’s why we’re supporting awareness programs to make them understand that education is a long-term investment.”
The program formally ended after prizes and certificates were distributed to the winners.
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