Libraries set to turn over a new leaf
CBSE Wants Students To Get Off Internet And Return To The World Of Books ……….Anahita Mukherji
At a time when school libraries are beginning to look a bit like museums, where you walk on tiptoe, dont make a noise and talk under your breath, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) wants to give them a shot in the arm.
The CBSE, which is in the middle of introducing a host of education reforms, including replacing board exams with continuous comprehensive evaluation (CCE), now wants schools to turn the library into a more exciting, lively place so that children are enticed into reading books. With everythinginformation, entertainment and even bookswithin reach through the internet, it is a challenge to get children to pick up a book and engage with the author, story, characters and ideas, says a recent CBSE board circular.
Deepshikha Srivastava, principal of Rajhans Vidyalaya, a CBSE school in Andheri, has observed a difference in the way Gen Next sources its information. Earlier, when we asked children to research a project, they would end up poring over books in the library. Now, they simply log onto the internet, where everything is available at your fingertips, she adds.
She too believes in the need to make the school library a more child-friendly place. In other countries, libraries are a lot livelier and fun places to visit. We need to start doing away with some of the rules and regulations associated with libraries here, so that kids dont think of them as silence zones, she says.
With several schools regularly asking their students to write book reports, the CBSE circular points to the fact that this activity usually does not interest students and in no way inculcates the reading habit in them. Instead, the CBSE is all set to introduce the Reading Project in schools. The board has put out a list of recommended authors that schools can choose from, including the likes of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Satyajit Ray.
Schools can either choose one book, books by one author or books of one genre, which must not be taught in class, but should, instead, be introduced through activities such as quizzes and discussions.Its important to train teachers so that they are interested in the books they introduce, says Soonoo Taraporewala, who helped set up the childrens section at the British Council Library in Mumbai. She is optimistic when it comes to the future of books. A look at the publishing industry shows that the reading habit wont die any time soon, she says.