UAE parents urged to spend more time reading with kids

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: UAE parents urged to spend more time reading with kids Parents are being urged to spend more time reading with their children, as part of attempts to improve low reading rates in the Arab world. The message was delivered at Mosques across the country on Friday, on the first day of 2016, which has been named the Year of Reading. “Young generations, boys and girls, are the future of the nation, its hope and its impassable fort,” said Imam Yasin Mohammed during a sermon at a mosque in Mushrif on Abu Dhabi’s Muroor Road. “Parents and elders should sit down with children and read together with them,” he said. “This is a powerful tool in motivating your child to read.” Worshippers were told that encouraging reading improves literacy and gives children the tools to teach themselves. “It’s important that knowledge is sought from the right reference sources rather than through the internet or social media,” worshippers were told. In September, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched a drive to get children across the Arab World to read 50 million books a year between them. The programme will see millions of dirhams given in grants to schools to encourage pupils to read and improve literacy. The amount of time children spend reading in the Arab world is very low compared to other regions, which the programme is attempting to turn around. According to The Arab Thought Foundation’s annual cultural development report in 2012, the average Arab child reads “six minutes a year” reading compared to 12,000 minutes in Western countries. Research for the Arab League countries also estimated that about 100 million people – almost one in three Arabs – struggle to read and write. Earlier this week, Sheikh Mohammed tweeted: “We need nationwide brainstorming via the hashtag ‘ReadingYear’ to come up with the best ideas on how to turn reading into a popular habit among our youth. “Our aim is to develop a long-term strategy which makes reading a part of the culture, identity and life of our generations.” ismail@7days.ae   Read the original story at: UAE parents urged to spend more time reading with kids