A legal Practitioner, Mojisola Okeya has called on governments at all levels to ensure that all schools have standard and well-equipped libraries to encourage reading culture among students.
Okeya made the call during a cash presentation to some students of Ise/Emure Secondary Schools on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti.
Newsafresh reports that the students had participated in a reading competition organised by Okeya, aimed at encouraging reading culture amongst the students.
Okeya urged governments to increase budgetary and allocation of funds to the education sector to boost and promote library services.
She also called on governments to channel adequate funds toward training, retraining, organising workshops and seminars for teachers and even the students in order to create the needed awareness on the importance of reading.
The legal practitioner also urged spirited individuals and groups to join hands with government in the provision of standard and well-equipped libraries in various schools to promote the desired reading culture.
“Reading Culture is fading among students. This is something that bothers me as well and it is one of the reasons I have been trying to do the little I can in my corner to fix the situation.
“I however don’t think it is a problem for the government to solve alone. I am not saying that the government shouldn’t do its bit, I am saying that a whole lot needs to be done and it requires all hands to be on deck.
“The parents have a role to play. As a matter of fact, the bulk of the work may even be from the home. We can insert here the talk about charity beginning at home.
“Something as simple as parents reading bedtime stories to their children every night can go a long way to promote a reading culture.”
She further urged parents to make the effort to be readers themselves because children tend to do what they see their parents do more than what they are told to do.
She noted that when children learn to read early, it becomes a part of them, adding that this would curb exam malpractices that exist in institutions today.
She therefore charged writers to write more book for early ages, while also encouraging the government to organise periodic inter school essay writing and debate competitions with worthy prizes.
The Abuja based lawyer also disclosed that Abuja she had been giving books to some schools in the FCT to encourage their reading culture, but also deemed it fit to give back to her home town, hence the purpose of the donation.
“I came to Ekiti few months to distribute textbooks to secondary school students in Ise/Emure Local Government and promised to come back for a reading competition which I did and I awarded some money to the first, second, third and fourth winners,” she added.
One of the students, Olaiya Precious, appreciated Okeya for encouraging them to read, adding that she read the three novels given with the hope of winning the money but reading these novels has expanded her knowledge.