The Hindu : New Delhi News : Mathura selected for ‘reading cell’ project

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Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008
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New Delhi

Mathura selected for ‘reading cell’ project

Parul Sharma

NEW DELHI: As part of its latest “Reading Cell” endeavour, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has zeroed in on Mathura for its pilot project to introduce graded self-reading series for children and establishing reading rooms in over 500 schools in five blocks of the city by this coming March.

The NCERT team had conducted a baseline study of about 50 schools in three blocks of Mathura to assess the comprehension capability of young children on whether they understand the meaning of what they read in their textbooks.

Funded under the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan”, the Cell was created this past year to focus attention on the reading skills of students of Classes I and II.

The idea behind the initiative was that reading being the basis of all understanding, if a child does not understand what he reads in Class I, the path would become tougher for him in future classes.

“The data from the Mathura schools has been collected and an analysis is being done. We interacted with about 700-800 children through tests and classroom observations to test their reading and comprehension of the Hindi language. Based on the findings, we will conduct a module for training of school teachers,” says Manjula Mathur, head of the Cell.

By March-end this year, she said, about 500 schools of Mathura would be equipped with a reading corner or room aimed at creating a space akin to a library meant for small children where they can engage in reading activities and explore different storybooks other than the regular text books.

The graded self-reading series will help the children sustain their interest in what they read.

These books comprising pictures along with text will be graded according to the level of vocabulary of children that will enable them to learn to read.

There will be no tests or exams for this series.

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