Rajasthan Mandates Newspaper Reading in Government Schools to Boost Literacy

Rajasthan's New Initiative for Students

Rajasthan: The state government has introduced a new policy requiring all government schools to incorporate daily newspaper reading into their curriculum. This initiative aims to foster reading habits among students, enhance their vocabulary, and improve their overall awareness of current affairs.

As per the directive issued on December 31, students will engage in newspaper reading for a minimum of 10 minutes during the morning assembly. The goal is to help students become acquainted with current events and develop their analytical skills regarding news from an early age.

Focus on Language Development

In line with the guidelines from the School Education Department, senior secondary and English medium schools are mandated to subscribe to at least two newspapers—one in Hindi and one in English. Additionally, upper primary schools must provide at least two Hindi newspapers.

The Rajasthan School Education Council, located in Jaipur, will cover the costs associated with these newspaper subscriptions.

Schools are also tasked with selecting five new words from the newspapers each day, explaining their meanings to students to bolster their language skills. During morning assemblies, one national-level English newspaper and one Hindi newspaper will be read aloud.

Encouraging Group Discussions for Enhanced Knowledge

The directive further encourages schools to organize students into class-wise groups for reading and discussing editorial pieces and significant national, international, and sports news.

Officials have indicated that this initiative is designed to not only improve students' general knowledge and social awareness but also to better equip them for competitive exams.

This policy follows a similar initiative recently adopted by the Uttar Pradesh government, which also made newspaper reading compulsory in its government schools.