The Book Reading Competition has been one of the British Council’s flagship outreach programme in Bangladesh since 2010, in which the central motto is to make reading and learning a new language fun and competitive. As part of the Book Reading Competition, the British Council held prize-giving ceremonies at two of its partnering universities on 18 and 19 April 2018.
On 18 April 2018, one of the ceremonies took place at BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology. The ceremony was attended by 490 students who participated in Book Reading Competition since their Fall semester in 2017. Md. Zahid Hasan was the winner from the institution, and he was awarded a winner’s crest and certificate, along with an attractive electronic Tablet. All other participants received books and participation certificates. Jim Pollard, Director of Operations, was present on behalf of the British Council as the chief guest to handover these prizes. The Vice-Chancellor of BUFT, Professor Dr Nizamuddin Ahmed was also present to deliver a closing speech.
The prize-giving ceremony of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) was held at the university’s premises on 19 April 2018. Around 300 students of 2017 summer and fall semesters took part in the assessment tests and won the British Council Library memberships, books and certificates. The winner of summer semester’s programme was Tazmim Hossain and the fall semester winner was Salman Ul Islam. They both were awarded an electronic tablet, winner crest and a certificate each. Kirsty Crawford, Programme Director of Libraries Unlimited, was present in the ceremony as the representative from British Council along with the Vice Chancellor of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Professor H. M. Jahirul Haque. In her speech, Kirsty described the significance of literature in developing a firm basis for better understanding and mutuality between the UK and Bangladesh.
The success of this year’s book reading competition has inspired the Cultural Centre to reach out more educational institutes around the country. Currently, the programme is being operated in more than 100 educational institutions around Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet.