Reading is a fundamental skill that serves as the cornerstone of education and personal development. According to the National Achievement Survey, proficient reading skills correlate directly with academic success across subjects. This report further emphasises the critical role of reading; by highlighting that a significant percentage of students in India lack basic reading proficiency, hindering their overall learning outcomes.
Reading not only enhances mental abilities but also promotes empathy, critical thinking and a broader understanding of the world. The National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020, also emphasizes providing access to high-quality children’s literature to cultivate a reading culture across the country. These reports underscore the urgency of prioritizing and improving reading skills to ensure a literate and knowledgeable society, laying the foundation for future academic and professional achievements.
In line with the recommendations of NEP 2020, CBSE has been launched and nurtured several initiatives that aim to instill a lifelong love for reading and equip students with essential literacy skills for their academic and personal growth. Various interesting activities under these initiatives will be continued and organised in the academic year 2024-25 too.
National Reading Day and Reading Week
This event is celebrated every year on 19th June to honour the legacy of the late P N Panicker, the father of the Library Movement. The Board encourages affiliated schools to participate in this initiative to promote reading habits among students through a range of engaging activities. Furthermore, to promote reading amongst the students, the Board is planning to attempt the Guinness World Record for “the most children reading at one time” on 19th June 2024. This activity will be done on the CBSE online technology platform “CBSE Reading App”. This app is thoughtfully curated to align with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP), focusing on nurturing skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, visualization and idea generation. The app contains the reading material from classes Nursery to Grade VIII in Hindi and English.
As a preparation to the celebration of the Reading Day, the Board will be organizing online/ offline workshops on the “Science of Reading” for the CBSE-affiliated school Principals and Teachers during March-June 2024. These events are aimed towards sensitising and orient “Reading” amongst the teaching fraternity.
Details regarding the workshop:
CBSE Reading Challenge
The annual, CBSE Reading Challenge for the academic session 2024-25, will be conducted in August 2024. This initiative is conducted to harness the reading skills and to showcase the skills and competencies in the area of Reading and Literacy amongst the students. The CBSE Reading Challenge is an exciting opportunity for students in classes 6th to 10th of CBSE-affiliated schools to enhance their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
This activity is conducted in two Rounds. The schools have to register themselves on the CBSE Reading Challenge Online Portal. Round I is organized within schools. The registered schools download the question paper and answer key from the portal. The schools then shortlist 02 students from each class for Hindi and English for Round II.
Round II is conducted in online mode. The shortlisted students log in to the portal on the given dates and time. They download the paper and then fill in responses and submit it again in the portal. The winners are shortlisted based on speed and accuracy. The winning and participating students will receive e-certificates.
CBSE Budding Authors Program
The CBSE Budding Authors Program aims to ignite the creative spark within students by encouraging them to explore the art of storytelling. By writing and submitting short stories under this program, students have the exciting opportunity to express their imagination and ideas, with a chance to see their work published, hand-holded and an opportunity to meet renowned writers for children. This enriching experience not only hones their writing abilities but also nurtures their confidence and self-expression.
For this activity, the registration will start in April 2024 followed by online webinars on the “Technique of writing stories” during summer vacations. The students will write and submit their stories on the technology platform from July 2024. The program welcomes submissions in both Hindi and English, and students can participate in one of the following three categories:
- Category I: classes 5-6
- Category II: classes 7-8
- Category III: classes 9-10
While the key competency of reading is the foundation of learning, the skill of writing empowers the learners through a process of critical and creative thinking, comprehending thoughts and sharing them with others. Through, this program the learners will get an opportunity to engage with experts through webinars on the art of story writing in addition to learning and honing the skills of creating, writing and illustrating short stories. The stories written by students will be published on the CBSE platform.
This activity is conducted online through the CBSE Academic Website under Reading Mission Tab. The circular on the CBSE Academic website will be released in April 2024. Mentoring workshops will be conducted online for the students by renowned authors to improve their writing skills which will be open to the CBSE affiliated schools during their summer vacations. The students shall write their stories during summer vacations and the schools will register their students on the CBSE Budding Authors Portal. The registered students will be provided with a unique ID and passwords which they will use for submitting their stories on the CBSE Reading App.
The initial screening of the entries will be done through AI engine. The initially screened stories will be further scrutinised by the panel of expert’s for final selection. The writers of shortlisted stories shall be hand-holded by the renowned authors for further honing their witting skills. The selected stories will be published by CBSE. The Board will give the e-certificates to the participating and winning students.
CBSE requests school heads and language teachers to note this information and cascade it to their students. School heads are also requested to visit the CBSE Academic website for the detailed guidelines and timelines of the above activities.
