N&E initiative gets kids reading newspapers, one student at a time DEWAKER BASNET

For the past couple of weeks, there’s hardly any Monday morning blues for the students of Baha’i School, Tadong.  Reason? Their regular classes have been reworked and converted to a fun and engaging class called “Newspaper and Education.” Here the students of class VI, VII and VIII are familiarized and encouraged to read newspapers, their gateway to read and equip  themselves in the competitive world of tomorrow. The festivity of the session is inspiring. In the second week of interventions, positive stories began to flow in the engagement sessions at Baha’i school.
Students come in with every copy of the newspaper read between the first week and the second week and enthusiastically show off the hard work and commitment towards the cause of reading newspapers. And the situation is not too different in the other nine schools (TNA, Baha’i School, Saramsa, Biraspati Parsai Senior Secondary School, PNG, Tadong School, Mt. Zion School, TNSSS, West Point School, DGSSS) where the interventions are going on in full swing.  The students bring in newspapers to the classroom with pride in their faces for a challenge well taken and a feat well achieved.
The concept is lapped up positively by the principals and the teachers. And as for the students, they are happily reading and leading.
In a short span of time, there have been inspiring leadership stories coming out of the school campuses providing motivation in building and reinforcing the good habit of reading newspapers amongst students.
Like the story of a school principal whose daughter is studying in class VIII in a private school. After the first week of intervention, the little one insisted that her father subscribe the entire lot of newspapers for her. And the best part, as told by her father, is that she’s exchanged her television watching time at home to newspaper reading time!  This is indeed inspiring. Likewise, there are reports from schools who have endeavored to convert their “free” periods to “newspaper reading periods” for the students who have not had an opportunity to be a part of the N&E intervention. These are healthy signs of progress for the times to come.  And newspapers are endeavoring to be the gateway to reading for these students!
As the principals and schools have been showing us stories of improvement of reading habits amongst their students, the protagonists of this intervention (students) are not to be left behind.
They have been showcasing progress in their own ways. From requesting parents to bring newspapers home every evening to group reading of newspapers during lunch breaks in schools, the journey has started well. Students across schools have started moving their eye balls from “only” photographs to the “also” texts which is very encouraging in the long run. They have started respecting newspapers like the way they respect books and many of them have been insisting their parents not to wrap food items with a newspaper! These are small yet significant steps guaranteeing the beginning of a serious breed of youngsters ready to become thought leaders in their own right and giving newspapers the pride of place it deserves.
The task of creating a habit of reading newspapers amongst students is a journey. As they say, well begun is half done! The start has been encouraging and the process certainly value adding!
[Newspaper and Education is an initiative of 24hours Inspired and has been supported by Sikkim Express, Samay Dainik and NOW!]