Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday said the government has taken a plan to build reading habits among children and reduce their dependence on mobile phones and digital devices.
He made the remarks while visiting the historic Jashore Institute Public Library in the afternoon.
Tarique Rahman said “The aim is to bring children away from excessive mobile phone use and encourage books and outdoor activities.”
“We want to develop the practice of reading books. We want to bring children out of mobile phones and into playgrounds and books. This is our plan,” he said while speaking to people present at the library.
Tarique explained that the initiative may face challenges but the government will begin the work with determination. He also expressed encouragement seeing people still engaged in reading.
“How successful we will be is a different matter. But we want to start the work. When we see people like you, we feel encouraged. Personally, I feel inspired that there are still people who love reading books. I believe we will succeed in this work,” he said.
Tarique Rahman said the government will seek public cooperation to implement the plan. He mentioned working jointly with organisations such as Bishwo Shahitto Kendro to expand reading habits nationwide.
“We expect your support. The government starts this work, and with organisations like the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, we want to work together. We will need support from people like you across the country to expand reading habits quickly,” he added.
Prime Minister also said, “The objective is to reduce children’s dependence on mobile phones and build strong reading habits.”
He referred to discussions with Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed and the work of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro.
“I had this wish, as I said, to bring children away from mobile phones and develop reading habits. You may have seen that I sat with Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed. His organisation Bishwo Shahitto Kendro is working on book reading,” he said.
Tarique farther mentioned “The government plans to work with the organisation to promote reading in schools.”
He added that two primary schools in each upazila may be selected to provide books to children.
“We are thinking of selecting two primary schools in each upazila where we will provide books for children. These will not be political books. There are many educational books outside politics that will help children learn about the world, religion, and life,” he said.
Tarique also said reading activities will be linked with examinations.
“We will gradually build reading habits by giving books. The content they read will also be included in examinations, meaning questions will come from those books, and they will be assessed based on them,” he added.
The Prime Minister also spoke with officials of the Jashore Institute Public Library.
Earlier in the afternoon, after inaugurating the 500-bed Jashore Medical College Hospital building, he visited the library and toured the historic institution.
The Jashore Public Library was established in 1851 and is among the oldest libraries in Bangladesh and South Asia.
It was founded during the early phase of the public library movement in the Indian subcontinent.
According to historical references, Jashore Town Hall was built in 1904 and Arya Theatre in 1919. In 1927, Rai Bahadur Jatindranath Majumder combined the Arya Theatre, Town Club and the Public Library into a unified cultural and community centre.
It later became Jashore Institute, which was renamed Jashore Institute Public Library by the government.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain, Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, State Minister Forhad Hossain Azad, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abu Abdullah M Saleh (Saleh Shibly) and Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon, among others, were present.
