“Vitamin R”
John Gomes, Head-Business Development, ALSOWISE®, writes:
For my father, morning is a time of ritual: the same ritual he has performed with unerring devotion for more than eight decades. Even though he is 94 now, my dad eagerly awaits the ring of the doorbell at 6:30AM which heralds the delivery of the newspaper. After which the world stands still till 8:30 AM, when he finally lifts his gaze to greet the world around him. Despite the advent of cable and smart TV, regurgitating news from around the world 24 hours a day, my dad still needs his daily dose of what he likes to call “Vitamin R”.
This ritual of his takes me back to the fundamentals of education – the 3Rs – which have remained unchanged for centuries. In my formative years, my teachers took great care to ingrain in me the importance of Reading, (w)Riting and (a)Rithmetic. Reading out loud, both individually and as part of a somewhat raucous cohort, was a daily occurrence. This finally transitioned into an ability to read by myself, quietly, without urge, instruction or incentive. Thus, reading became a lifelong habit, a skill that has held me in good stead ever since.
But what of the generations that attend school in 2024?
Literacy, as defined by The National Literacy Mission in India (launched in 1988), is the ability to acquire the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, along with the ability to apply them to one’s day-to-day life. The Covid-19 pandemic saw an alarming decline in literacy skills across all socio-economic strata. Noticeable among these is the overall learning deficit among students in all grades with regard to reading. Unsurprisingly, India is ranked 105th in the world literacy index today.
As a result, the Ministry of Education has launched a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), with the objective of making sure that all Indians attain foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) in Grade 3 by 2026–27.
One may well ask why, in an age obsessed with AI and STEM skills, so much attention is being focused on skilling young Indians to read.
The answer is simple: reading proficiency is a real measure of both comprehension and self-learning. It is a student’s gateway to learning in any field, and can serve as a proxy for foundational learning in subjects where no instructional training is available. Moreover, there are a host of cognitive benefits to reading. Reading for pleasure has been linked to increased cognitive proficiency in vocabulary and mathematics. Sustained high-volume lifetime reading has been associated with enhanced levels of academic attainment. Research suggests that reading can improve stress management, enhance memory, increase concentration, encourage imagination and creativity, and transfer the same in heightened and free-flowing writing skills. Reading and writing are even considered ideal brain-stimulating activities to reduce cognitive decline.
No wonder my dad’s memory and cognitive skills are a source of envy in his social circle.
Anyway, I do hope he finishes reading the newspaper soon, so that I may get my hands on it for my own daily dose of “Vitamin R”!!