Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger has called for people to read more to children in view of the poor reading skills of many primary school students. The occasion is this year’s nationwide reading day.
Tests had shown that one in four children in Germany has reading problems at the end of primary school. The consequences are serious, the FDP politician told the German Press Agency. “Because no other basic skill has such a decisive influence on the entire further educational and therefore also life path.”
A recent survey also showed that in more than a third of families, parents rarely or never read to their one to eight-year-old children. “This has a direct impact on their linguistic development,” criticized Stark-Watzinger. Anyone who reads to children helps them learn to read well themselves. “That’s why we should read to all children: on National Reading Day or any other day.”
The nationwide reading day is an initiative in which the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, the Reading Foundation and the Deutsche Bahn Foundation are involved. Since 2004, the aim has been to set an example for the importance of reading aloud every November.
