Students and teachers of two junior secondary schools in Abuja on Wednesday expressed delight over the launch of book clubs in their schools.

The schools, in Life Camp and Karshi, were gifted with several items including television sets and books to mark the launch.

A reading competition was also conducted for the both schools during the launch organised by the Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria, LRCN, in partnership with Bratim Training Limited.

“I feel excited to win. I didn’t know it was this big, that I will win something by coming here. I feel a sense of satisfaction because I read a book once in a week. I want to be an engineer”, Pius Okegbu, a 13-year-old student of JSS Karshi who was among the winners of the reading competition said.

Master Okegbu further advised that reading should be made an important subject taught in schools just like mathematics and English.

Another student, Catherine Audu, wants the libraries to be stocked with more books.

“Those old books in the library are no longer interesting”, she said.

Victoria Aneke, the principal of JSS Life Camp, said the launch of the reading clubs is a welcomed development.

“I’m really impressed. The students also did well in the competition where students read and summarise books and in turn train their colleagues.”

She further encouraged parents and guardians to buy books for their wards and also give them time to read as well as monitor their reading culture.

“The parents should do their own part at home while the teachers do theirs in school and everything will work out fine.”

Another teacher said that the basic problem with reading in schools is because most teachers teach alphabets instead of phonetics which deals with the pronunciation of words.

In his remarks, the CEO of Bratim Training Limited, Tejan Ibrahim, said, “the reading culture has diminished and is nowhere close to good. The libraries get dry and dry due to the level of interest students exhibits towards it.

“Parents and teachers also did not recognise the change in times which makes the academic world a function of the technological world. Technology has changed not only the business and scientific world but has also cut across all that has to do with humanity and its home which includes our schools (academic world).

“Something has to be done in cognisance to these challenges and the trends in our time which stands both as a tool of building and of destruction. We cannot sit back and see the future fade away; we can’t continue lamenting the standard of education and reading habit and yet do nothing about it.

“This is the rationale behind the partnership between Bratim Nigeria and Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN).”

The two partners- LRCN and Bratim – had previously launched book clubs in schools in Jabi and Gwarimpa.