THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One could say the students of government schools in Vilappilsala are better read when compared to schools that do not promote reading. Four schools in the panchayat namely Villappil UP School , Peyad L P School. Thurthumoola L P School and Cherukode Tribal School have been inculcating reading habits among students since 2009. Terumo Penpol, the city-based company which is the country’s first and largest manufacturer of blood bags has supplied these schools with libraries stacked with books, as part of corporate social responsibility initiative.
Around 500 books of different genres like fiction, self-motivation, personality development, autobiographies, comics, music are available at all the four Government Schools in Villappil Panchayat. Apart from books there are newspapers available for students to keep updated with the happenings around the world.
“The idea was to introduce the habit of reading among children of Govt Lower Primary schools. Our encouragement comes from the message we get from schools stating how reading has helped the children acquire a better understanding of things and given them a much higher level of confidence,” said a company official. According to her, parents have taken up the reading habits of their children.
There are some students who are now requesting more books in English because they want to improve their fluency in it. The students have realised now it is very important to know of things other than what is taught through school texts. Judging by the success of how children have taken to reading we plan to purchase more books for the children from next financial year, she said.To promote awareness on science and technology the company arranged science classes at Villappil Schools.