Mumbai: The new year will open with a symphony of words for students in Maharashtra. A govt resolution (GR) decrees that 45 lakh students, spread across 6,000 colleges and 83 universities in the state, embark on a shared literary journey: to read one book, cover to cover, and craft a thoughtful review.
The book reading and review initiative will be held from Jan 1-15.
The state’s director of higher education, Shailendra Deolankar, said he was inspired to launch this “bold experiment in collective reflection, uniting campuses under a single narrative” after attending the Pune reading festival. Students can pick any book except a textbook related to the curriculum.
“The idea is to increase student engagement and to promote the habit of reading that is lost on the current generation. We have given students the freedom to pick a book they want: fiction, non-fiction, scientific, spiritual, self-help, or mystery. Before they start reading, teachers will counsel them on how to read a book and how they must review it,” Deolankar told TOI.
College teachers lamented that a directive had to be passed to get students to read a book. “A habit that should have been cultivated at home and in school now requires the state to pass a GR. Yet, we are happy that a step has been taken,” said a college teacher.
Deolankar said this will not be a one-off event, but a “continuous celebration” of reading.
After the book review, which will be either in the form of a written review or a presentation, colleges will choose the best student. Finally, after multiple rounds, colleges will whittle down to one student from each region who will be picked. Ten of them will be called to Pune and will be incentivised.
The state’s 12,000 public libraries have also been roped in to lend books to students who may not have access to books.