DepEd declares Nov as Reading Month

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) is bracing to undertake activities in line with the declaration of November as National Reading Month, and the setting of November 25 as the “Araw ng Pagbasa”.

Education Secretary Armin Luisto said the move was in support of the ten-point education agenda of the Aquino Administration and the promotion of Every Child a Reader Program (ECARP).

“We are coming up with more creative ways of developing the love for reading among our young because this is an important portal to the world of learning,” said Luistro.

The education department has listed down a series of activities to celebrate the month as stipulated in DepEd Order 244 which includes the conduct of a “Read-A-Thon” to foster a reading culture among pupils and launch a search for the best individual and team readers from students in public schools.

Also being promoted is the Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) project, a 15- to 20-minute daily activity devoted to reading a book or any reading materials available in the school. There is also the Shared Reading project (Big Brother or Sister/Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko), an activity wherein older students or independent readers teach pupils who are at the frustration reading or non-reading level.

Luistro also proposes as one of the activities the Intensified Remedial Reading where teachers or class advisers give remedial lessons to children in the frustration reading level.

Meanwhile, the Five Words A Week (FWAW)/A Paragraph A Day (APAD) encourages pupils to learn and master one word a day for five days a week and to read aloud one or two short paragraphs a day before classes start to develop the students’ oral communication skills. DepEd also suggests the holding of a Reading Camp where children are provided a venue where their talents in communication arts can be highlighted through competitions.

To highlight the Reading Month, Luistro directed all regional, division and school level officials to lead the nationwide synchronized reading program every first Monday of November from 9 to 10 in the morning.

In a related development, DepEd will conduct the nationwide Araw ng Pagbasa on Nov. 25 to coincide with the week of the celebration of the birth anniversary of the late Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy” Aquino on November 27. The event also commemorates the 20th year of the signing of RA 7165 by former President Corazon Aquino which created the Literacy Coordinating Council on Nov. 25, 1991.

“By giving importance to the Araw ng Pagbasa, we are promoting reading and literacy among our learners even as we motivate them to learn from the lives and works of eminent Filipinos,” explained Luistro.

In pursuit of this, school officials are encouraged to conduct reading and literacy activities in honor of Ninoy Aquino. Schools are likewise asked to partner with non-government organizations and the private sector to foster cooperation in the community.