Reading culture is one of the drives for the formation of new, knowledgeable and intelligent citizens to adapt to the development of a modern knowledge-based society while contributing to reading orientation for people with an access to appropriate information and knowledge useful for life depending on the level of education, occupation and living conditions.
In recent years, together with the general direction to improve the quality of comprehensive education at all levels, the party committees and authorities from district to grassroots levels have always attached importance to raising the awareness of officials, party members, civil servants, students and citizens through the development of reading culture. Up to 2016, 100% of the district’s party cells were given People’s Newspapers, New Hanoi Newspapers, Internal Information Materials and Ba Vi Newsletters for activities; 71 schools in the district had libraries and librarians. In order to improve librarians’ professional skills, the district department of education and training advised the district to provide an intermediate library training course for 102 employees. At present, 31 communes and towns have Community Learning Centers, 48.6% of which are assessed to operate well. Every year, the district Department of Judice cooperates with the District Party Committee’s Propaganda and Education Commission, the District Cultural Center, departments, and the VFF to provide hundreds of law books and rapporteurs’ journals for the grassroots rapporteurs and communicators and deliver to people thousands of leaflets on the socio-economic development and security-defense of the country, the capital and the district, the knowledge of laws and life and information on new rural construction. As a result, the bookcases of the communes and towns have been supplemented with a growing number of books, helping people understand the guidelines of the Party and the state legal policies and apply scientific and technical advances to change the structure of plants and animals, to raise incomes and to actively implement cultural lifestyle in the community, thus contributing to improving the quality of their lives.
The judges of the contest “I Love Vietnamese History” was selecting the excellent writings at for the City level contest. The contest was launched by Ba Vi District Department of Education and Training, attracting thousands of pupils participating in reading Vietnamese history books.
However, the reading of the students and residents in the district also have limitations and face certain difficulties. The explosion and development of information technology and communication are overwhelming the reading culture with the strong growth of the internet and the visual and audiovisual media. Most of the cadres, civil servants, officials, students and people are lazy reading newspapers and books and do not spend time on reading books and selecting appropriate books in practical service for learning, work and production while the number of people granted reading cards has remained low. Less regular, close and scientific management and instruction of reading are common in communes, towns and school libraries. There is a lack of facilities and equipment to serve people’s reading and finding information at Community Learning Centres and Community Centers. Some schools do not have libraries, especially electronic ones. There is no frequent practice of exploiting internal information and “Bavi Newsletters” among party committees, party cells and party members.
Some excellent writings of Ba Vi District’s students to attend the city-level “I Love Vietnamese History” contest 2016
In response to this year’s Lifelong Learning Week with the theme “Developing Reading Culture in the Digital Age” and creating a widespread reading movement across the district, party committees and governments at all levels and citizens need to further communicate the effects and significance of reading in fostering and improving knowledge as well as updating information for people. It also requires to strengthen the inspection of the Party committees and authorities with regard to the use of the City’s internal information materials and “Ba Vi Newsletters” in the Party’s activities and the management of local law bookcases, and the management and professional guidance of librarians in schools; continue to invest in facilities and equipment for libraries, community learning centres and community centres in a standardized and modern way; and regularly coordinate with the educational discipline to organize competitions on book propaganda and introduction to praise the examples of reading spirit for the district’s reading development.
Phung Dang Huong