New Delhi [India], January 2 (ANI): Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a 100-day reading campaign ‘Padhe Bharat’ on Saturday.

The launch of the 100 Days Reading Campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which lays emphasis on the promotion of joyful reading culture for children by ensuring the availability of age-appropriate reading books for children in local/mother tongue/regional/tribal language.

The Minister while launching the campaign has underlined the importance of reading that children need to develop to ensure continuous and lifelong learning. He also reinforced that the habit of reading, if inculcated at an early age, helps in brain development and enhances imagination and provide a conducive learning environment for children.

Pradhan emphasized that reading is the foundation of learning, which motivates students to read books independently, develops creativity, critical thinking, vocabulary and the ability to express both verbally and in writing. “It helps children to relate to their surroundings and real life situation,” he added. He stressed on the need to create an enabling environment in which students read for pleasure and develop their skills through a process that is enjoyable and sustainable and which remains with them for life.

Pradhan shared the names of the five books that he has picked to begin reading. He encouraged everyone to adopt the habit of reading books and urged all to share what they are reading along with suggestions, the official release said.

Padhe Bharat campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8. The reading campaign will be organized for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from January 1, 2022, to April 10, 2022. The reading campaign aims to have the participation of all stakeholders at the national and state level including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc. One activity per week per group has been designed with the focus on making reading enjoyable and build a lifelong association with the joy of reading. This campaign has also been aligned with the vision and goals of the foundational Literacy and Numeracy mission.

The 100 days reading campaign will also focus on Indian languages including mother tongue/local/regional languages. It is in this regard, February 21 which is celebrated as International Mother Tongue Day, has also been integrated with this campaign. This day will be celebrated with the activity of Kahani Padho Apni Bhasa Main (Reading story in own language) across the country by encouraging children to read in their mother tongue/local language. This will help in promoting the local language and culture of our society.

Hence, 100 days Reading Campaign is envisaged to support and encourage students, along with their schools, teachers, parents, and communities, in every possible way and encourage children to read for a joyful learning experience. (ANI)