Ali Azmat an avid reader, was of the opinion that library was a place where students could generate ideas through reading a variety of books and develop a habit for research and questioning.
Most government schools in Rawalpindi do not have an on-campus library. At best, a few dusty and torn books are lined up on old and broken shelves, failing to attract students’ attention.
According to the education department, every school has a well-equipped library on paper but reality is very different.
“Though we have a few hundreds books I’ve never seen a student take out a book in the last two years,” said a teacher at Government High School Khayaban-e-Sir Syed.
Even though libraries are an integral part of the educational process, children are deprived of the facility, sometimes due to a lack of awareness about the importance of reading books. Most students don’t even know about their school library. “We were never told there was a library in our school,” said Sufian Ahmad, a ninth grader.
Punjab Teachers Union General Secretary Rana Liaquat is of the view that a dearth of libraries, lack of awareness and motivation for reading books affects the students’ ability to acquire and process information. “This is the main reason our students can’t see anything beyond their course books.” They have no vision, he added.
Ali Azmat an avid reader, was of the opinion that library was a place where students could generate ideas through reading a variety of books and develop a habit for research and questioning.
“In a library books are windows to a world of knowledge, adventure, history, culture and fiction which can help trigger students’ imaginations and spur their latent talent.
Library is a wonderful place to ponder and to explore yourself and the world at large, Azmat added.
Teachers complained that between teaching course books and checking homework they had hardly any time to organise or take students to book fairs or libraries to develop an interest in reading.
Some schools have more than 400 students with only a few teachers who can hardly manage to take classes, said one. Also, most schools don’t have libraries or a qualified librarian.
“In most schools libraries are just a formality. When we demand a library on campus, the education department sends us a few books for which we don’t have any space,” said Muhammad Sagheer Gujjar, a senior teacher.
Most teachers were of the view that lack of supplementary reading and excessive focus on course books lead students to cheat in examinations.
“It reduces their ability to select, acquire and access information,” said Imtiaz Abbasi, a teacher. He suggested that students’ reading habit could be revived by organising book fairs, equipping libraries with books and spreading awareness about the importance of libraries.
“Where schools have proper libraries, there are teachers who develop their students’ interests,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2014.
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The main problem in way of establishing libraries in government schools, and encouraging vast readership is that there is no post of Librarian in School cadre. Unless the post of librarians is created, all the efforts will bear no fruit.