Book Reading programme is a flagship outreach programme for the British Council Library. The British Council is organising this programme since 2010. This programme is all about developing the reading habit and language proficiency in English through reading the simplified version of story books. Around 20,000 members from over 80 institutions from Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet are participating in the Book reading programme.
Under the umbrella of Book Beading Programme, a student’s progress is evaluated through a quiz competition. The participants are encouraged to read more books through a prize giving ceremony. This ceremony is arranged for the participating institutions exclusively. For Green University Bangladesh, the British Council arranges the prize giving ceremony thrice a year for three different sessions (spring, summer and fall). In the summer session, a total of 730 students participated in the Book Reading Programme.
The prize giving ceremony was held on 23 August 2016 at the premises of Green University Bangladesh campus in Dhaka. Around 100 students and ten teachers were present in the ceremony. Professor Dr Md. Golam Samdani Fakir, Vice Chancellor, Green University graced the event as the chief guest. Professor Dr Golam Ahmed Faruqui, Dean and Director of MBA programme, Green University Bangladesh was also present there. The prize giving ceremony started with the welcome speech from K. M. Wazed Kabir, Chair, Dept. of English, Green University Bangladesh followed by the speech from the chief guest and the special guest. At that point, the chief guest handed over prizes and certificates to the winners.
Ananda Paul was the top scorer of the quiz competition. He was awarded a mobile handset. All the participants were provided with the certificate of participation as well. Ananda Paul expressed his feeling of joy in his thank you speech. He considers Book Reading Programme as one of the British Council’s many endeavours to contribute to the education sector in Bangladesh. Afterwards, the participants and associated teachers provided their feedback and suggestions about the Book Reading Programme in a short interactive session with the British Council representatives. They also appreciated the initiatives taken by the British Council.