Reading Practice Knowledge Pulse award recipients with Ahmad, Masly and other officers.
KENINGAU: Sabah Education Director Datuk Jame Alip has urged all schools in the State to cultivate reading culture among students in an effort to raise their knowledge level in line with knowledge suitable for people’s needs in the new millennium.
He said the practice of reading should not limited to reading materials in school textbooks, and even more broadly, through reading materials in the print and electronic sources.
According to him, by reading a lot of reading material especially scientific and general knowledge was very important in developing ideas and thinking, especially in making compositions as well as in public communication such as speech, debate, storytelling and others.
“Thinking would be wide open, with good ideas and factual findings of diligent practice in reading on materials that are useful,” he said when opening the state level Reading Practice Knowledge Pulse (NILAM) Carnival at SJKC Yuk Kong hall here yesterday.
He said that this could help students to excel academically, especially on the work of writing, thus encouraging reading that must be cultivated through a variety of activities in school.
Jame’s text of speech was delivered by the State Education Department’s senior assistant director of Education Technology Division, Ahamad Jais.
At the same time, Jame said based on the report of the National Library in 2010, average Malaysians read eight books a year and this shows a positive increase compared to an average of two books read in 1996.
He added that although this rate was much lower than the reading rate in developed countries such as Japan and the United States, this rate indicated that more and more Malaysians were beginning to realize the importance of reading.
In the meantime, he said the re-study of the 2011 Malaysian Reading profile by the National Library formulated that the group aged 10 to 40 read eight books a year, and over 40 years old, read just six books a year.
Accordingly, Jame said the NILAM awards organised by the Educational Technology Division (BTP) was consistent with the goal of giving encouragement to all schools, teachers and students in addition to giving recognition to schools and teachers as well as students who were eager to read.
In a related development, he said schools should use the facility such as a library center as knowledge source.
“Educators in schools need to make a habit of reading as a daily practice that can be emulated by their students, which includes implementing NILAM program with excellence.
“The attitude of some students who like to read just to pass exams alone and do not practice after leaving school, must be curbed in order to achieve a developed nation by people who are knowledgeable,” he said.
Also present at the carnival was District Education Officer, Masly Wahip.
More than 40 primary and secondary school students throughout the state participated in the competition involving 10 categories, including secondary ‘Tokoh NILAM’ categories for primary and secondary schools.