His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has given directions to draft legislative procedure for UAE National Reading Law, which aims to ensure the sustainability of all government efforts to consolidate reading in the UAE for all ages, as well as identify the key responsibilities of government agencies in the field.
The law comes as part of the National Policy for Reading in the UAE, which was announced during a press conference on the last day of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
His Highness Sheikh Khalifa said that the goal of the Reading Law is to provide a sound basis for lifelong learning for all members of our community and enhance the mental, intellectual and cultural assets of our people. "The Reading Law will institutionalize and sustain efforts to make reading a key element of the work, jurisdiction and mission of a number of government agencies," His Highness said.
Meanwhile, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, Ruler of Dubai, announced earlier in the day the launch of a National Reading Strategy for the next 10 years. He also announced the establishment of the National Endowment for Reading with a budget with Dh100 million to support voluntary reading activities, which would be overseen by Shamma Al Mazrui, the Minister of Youth.
Sheikh Mohammed said that the current generation suffers from a reading crisis, and “we will not flatter ourselves when it comes to developing the future of this generation." He highlighted the superiority of the states and nations comes from facing challenges with courage and addressing them... "We have book fairs, cultural festivals, literary and poetry awards and now a range of new initiatives to protect the language and encourage reading. We are building the basis for our journey towards cultural excellence."
"There is no knowledge-based economy without knowledge-based societies. Our development strategies cannot be built without building the capacity of our young generation. We can’t create a socially aware, tolerant society with strong family values and a sense of national identity without culture, reading and knowledge. A reading society embraces civilized values, is flexible and adaptable and has the intellectual capacity to drive development to take a role in our multi-cultural world."
The strategy includes 30 main national initiatives sectors including education, health, culture, social development and the media and content industries. Among the initiatives the adoption of a month each year by the UAE Cabinet to be dedicated to reading, the distribution of ‘Bags of Knowledge’ to new born citizens of the UAE.
Other initiatives also include directions to enrich national reading content; a detailed review of publishing policies in UAE intended to support local publishers and the inclusion of elective social reading into the UAE curriculum as a measurable element of educational institutions.
Key elements of the initiatives under the Policy include changes in the educational system, curricula and the evaluation of schools and institutions of higher education to address the imbalance in the decline in reading rates. The initiative will include adopting a national health program to encourage reading from birth, and providing three bags of books for each Emirati child during the first four years of his life.
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