City Desk

“We read Bangla letters, but do we put in as much effort to understand the language and its pronunciations as we do for English?” former VC of Dhaka University Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique asked at a seminar held yesterday.

The programme -- organised by ‘Read Aloud Bangladesh’ at the National Press Club premises -- marked the World Read Aloud Day-2021 and featured speakers talking about the benefits of reading aloud, said a press release.

During the chief guest’s speech, Dr Arefin Siddique also said, “We used to have a tradition of reading aloud back in the days -- one could hear the sound of students reading from every village household. Mosques and madrasahs also had this tradition, and still do to some extent, but we are gradually losing this heritage.”

“If one wants to learn pronunciation, there’s no alternative to reading aloud,” he asserted, and said everyone involved with education needs to take special care of this, or else proper pronunciation of Bangla could be lost forever, the press document said.

“We never even realised how important reading aloud could be!” said special guest Ilyas Khan, general secretary of National Press Club, adding, “This initiative should not be limited to just a single organisation’s effort. I request the government to help spread it further.”

The programme, moderated by Read Aloud Bangladesh founder Rupok Singha, also featured Dr Md Omar Faruk -- additional secretary, Technical and Madrasah Education Division, Ministry of Education -- as special guest, the press release said.

Following the seminar, the winners of an online quiz competition for students were announced and their certificates handed over by guests.