DepEd leads National Reading Month celebration this November

The Department of Education (DepEd) marks the calendar with a significant yearly celebration – the National Reading Month (NRM). 

This month-long event observed every November, is part of the agency's efforts to foster a culture of reading and enhance literacy skills among the youth. 

Recognizing the pivotal role of reading in education, the DepEd endeavors to make this month a cornerstone for the development of a lifelong love for learning.

“Hangad ng taunang selebrasyon na maisulong ang kahalagahan ng panitikan at pagbabasa (The aim of this yearly celebration is to promote the importance of literature and reading),” DepEd said in a Facebook post on Nov. 10. 

“Nilalayon din nitong mas paghusayin pa ang kasanayan sa pagbasa ng mga Pilipinong mag-aaral upang mas mapabuti pa ang kanilang pagkatuto (It also seeks to further enhance the reading skills of Filipino students to improve their learning even more),” it added. 

DepEd’s NRM celebration is anchored on promoting reading and literacy among pupils and students. 

It also aims to make reading a “shared physical experience” specifically among the youth to increase its relevance “amidst the growing reliance on the internet and inclination to online activities.” 

NRM activities 

For this year’s NRM celebration, the agency asked all concerned to refer to the DepEd Memorandum No. 244 series of 2011 entitled “Declaring November as National Reading Month of Every Year and November 25, 2011 as the Nationwide Araw ng Pagbasa” issued by former Education Secretary Armin Luistro. 

Through the memorandum, DepEd urged schools and learning institutions to conduct a month-long reading program to revive students' interest in reading.

Among the activities suggested for the NRM celebration include the “Read-a-Thon” which seeks to foster a reading culture among pupils and to determine the most outstanding individual and team readers among elementary pupils in public schools. 

The “Drop Everything and Read (DEAR),” on the other hand, is a 15 to 20-minute daily activity devoted to reading books or any materials available inside the school.

The “Big Brother/Big Sister” or “Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko” is also one activity recommended for the NRM celebration. It is a shared reading activity wherein older students or independent readers mentor pupils at the “frustration reading level” or non-reading level. 

Meanwhile, schools are also encouraged to conduct various remedial classes and reading assistance programs wherein remedial lessons are given to children who are non-readers by teachers or class advisers. 

Other activities include the “Five Words A Week (FWAW),” “A Paragraph A Day (APAD)” and “Library Hour A Week” wherein pupils are encouraged to learn and master one word a day, five days a week, and read aloud one to two paragraphs a day before classes start to develop communication. 

Moreover, the “Reading Camp” aims to highlight the pupil’s talents in communication arts through competitions.

DepEd encouraged regional, division, and school officials to lead a nationwide synchronized reading program conducted every first Monday of November from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Nov. 25 was also declared the nationwide “Araw ng Pagbasa” or “National Reading Day” as the culmination activity for the NRM.

To encourage elementary pupils as well as secondary students from both public and private schools to participate in the “Araw ng Pagbasa,” DepEd also encouraged teachers to organize story-telling sessions, reading list preparation, readers’ training, and a readership development program and declamation contests.