A handful of leading UAE schools have joined forces with the Emirates Literature Foundation in a scheme designed to cultivate a love of the written word. The ‘Reading for Pleasure’ initiative gives students access to books and encourages them to read, purely for the love of reading, and outside the constraints, testing and demands of the classroom.
A region-wide first, the 5-year long ‘Reading for Pleasure’ initiative will also form the basis of a homegrown academic research project, conducted by three UAE universities. Researchers will look at the impact of reading for pleasure on students’ well-being and cognitive development.
Reading for Pleasure, in Pictures
Making an Impact, Reaping the Benefits
Dubai Heights Academy has already felt the impact of joining forces with the Foundation and becoming one of six pioneering schools to take part. Primary English Lead, Samuel McNally, enthused about the very tangible benefits for DHA students:
“At Dubai Heights Academy, we have witnessed the transformative power of the ‘Reading for Pleasure’ initiative. Through this five-year project, we have enriched our classroom libraries with books donated by the Emirates Literature Foundation, organized poetry and writing competitions, and hosted special author visits, including those from local Emirati authors. Our collaboration has involved us hosting the semi-final of the Emirates NBD ‘Poetry for All’ competition.
Being a part of such a unique project has not only revitalized our library space, but has also led to significant improvements in our students’ reading progress and attainment, earning us a ‘Very Good’ status with KHDA.”
Global Trends
Evidence and media reports from around the globe indicate that reading for pleasure has a positive impact on many aspects of child development. Despite this, rates of reading for pleasure are in decline in many parts of the world. A recent report by the UK’s National Literacy Trust indicated that that just 2 in 5 (43.4%) children and young people said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2023. This was the lowest level since the Trust had first asked the question in 2005.
In launching this new scheme, the Emirates Literature Foundation aims to fight this global trend. The initiative is structured around ‘Three Pillars’ one for students, one for teachers and, importantly, for one parents. Students in the six participating schools (Dubai Heights Academy, Dubai Schools Al Barsha, Dubai Schools Mirdif, Dubai Schools Nad al Sheba and two schools from the Emirates Schools Establishment) will have 10 minutes solely dedicated to reading for pleasure each day, new and improved library facilities, regular visits by children’s book authors and ‘book themed’ extra-curricular activities scheduled throughout the school year.
Teachers will also feel the benefit of taking part, with enhanced professional development and support, while eager parents will be able to participate in monthly parent meetings and have access to new books to read with their children at home.
Foundations for the Future
Academics and researches from Zayed University, University of Birmingham Dubai and United Arab Emirates University will look at how reading impacts children across a wide range of issues; neurodevelopment and behaviour changes, applied linguistics and psycholinguistics, dual language learners, wellbeing and attainment, Arabic language learning and more.
Enthusiasm for the new scheme comes as Dubai’s private schools prove themselves able to buck any global negative trends towards reading. Reported by SchoolsCompared.com in 2023, Dubai’s private schools were ranked 13th globally by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) via the ranking results of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2022).
Act now!
The very first Reading for Pleasure Conference is taking place in Dubai on May 18-19. Join a phenomenal array of experts and evangelists from around the world to aim to finally answer how best can we foster a love for reading in children?
Register for the Emirates Literature Foundation’s Reading for Pleasure Conference here.
Further Reading
Visit the official Dubai Heights Academy web site here
PISA Rankings, SchoolsCompared.com Analysis
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