British Council’s new mission aims to make children enjoy reading

Kids Read has been introduced in St Joseph’s and St Paul’s.

KARACHI:

Aaarghhh Spider was being read aloud to a group of students huddled around Wendy Arnold, a consultant working with the British Council, at the launch of the Kids Read programme at St Joseph’s Convent High School on Saturday.

The children were smiling cheek to cheek and bobbing their heads up and down while cheering for Arnold to read on, as she used a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the story’s character, a spider. The students started to giggle and gasp as one of them announced that the Tarantula could eat a crocodile.

According to Arnold, the interactive session was aimed at instilling reading habits in children. She said that it would teach them how to read stories and ask questions.

So far, the programme has been introduced in six schools across the country, including St Joseph’s and St Paul’s in Karachi.

British Deputy High Commissioner Francis Campbell said that the programme was targeting 25,000 students from the first grade to the sixth. He added that the programme would introduce the young minds to a world full of creativity, culture, imagination and understanding.

Parents and their little ones were thrilled with the initiative. “I like to read books,” said seven-year-old Marium while fidgeting with her ponytail. “When I was younger, my mother used to read to me but now I read on my own.” Her mother said that as a parent she had how to involve the child from the storytelling session.

“I read two books every day,” said 10-year-old Mina Rehmani as she looked at the books lined outside the hall. “My favorite book is Sweet Valley Kids but I like the books here too.”

While talking to The Express Tribune about the reading list, Arnold said that they had tried to select real stories and nearly 50 of them had been approved by the country’s religious authorities. She added that parents and teachers also had to contribute to the programme. “At schools, the teachers will read aloud to the young ones while at home, parents can do the same,” she said. “The programme will also encourage children to develop their own stories.”

The principal of the convent, Sister Julie Pacheco, said that a special place had been set up at the school for these reading and storytelling sessions and training workshops would be held for teachers.

According to Arnold, if the outcome was successful and well funded, the programme could run till June 2012. Some parents, including Huma Tahir hope that the interactive sessions continued as her daughter does not like reading. “She runs away whenever she sees a book,” she said. “If they can make her read then I will say that this programme is effective.”

The programme is being funded by the HSBC.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2011.