Oxford University Press launches two new programmes in Pakistan

The competition aims to enhance reading and writing skills in school-going students

KARACHI: The Oxford University Press (OUP) launched its two new programmes, Oxford Big Read (OBR) and Oxford Quality School (OQS) programmes, in Pakistan on Thursday.

The new programmes were announced by OUP managing director Ameena Saiyid. Talking about the OBR programme, which consists of seven steps, Saiyid said, "The OBR is a first-of-its-kind reading contest in Pakistan that aims to enhance reading and writing skills in school-going students of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary classes."

What is OBR?

The OUP is introducing around 250 new fiction and non-fiction books, besides curriculum books. To participate in the competition, a school has to register online or obtain forms available at OUP offices across the country. Each school has to buy at least 90 books from the 250 newly introduced books available in both English and Urdu languages.

Once the school is registered and has bought the books, the students from each class have to read more than one book and mark how many books are read by a student each day on the chart provided by the OUP. The student then has to write at least one book review, which can also be on the theme or any characters from the book.

After the schools shortlist the reviews, they will be submitted to OUP regional centres in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad. Schools can submit a total of nine reviews, with three each from primary, lower secondary and upper secondary sections.

After the reviews are shortlisted by the OUP, the selected students will be asked to write one more review out of which a total of nine reviews will be awarded by the national jury, who will also select three positions from each level.

The competition has kicked off and the schools can start registering for the competition, announced Saiyid.

What is OQS?

Sharing her views about the second programme, Saiyid said that OQS works towards sharing pursuit of excellence in education. She revealed that schools can register with OUP through this programme and get quality teaching materials from OUP.

OQS selection criteria include that schools use 90 per cent of Oxford books, have strong code of conduct, good infrastructure and have a minimum enrolment of 500 students. Saiyid added that after the agreement and registration, the schools can also use OQS plaque on their websites, letterheads and besides logos. "Right now, only Pak-Turk schools are OQS registered all over Pakistan," she informed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2015.