Children Thirst for Good Books (posted Sept. 2007)

Without the aid of books, a child's learning potential is greatly diminished. In the Philippines, reading books has not just become a fading practice but a privilege of the children of the elite class.

In a survey on the reading attitudes and preferences of Filipinos released by the National Book Development Board and conducted by the Social Weather Station Nationwide in 2003, sixty percent of the households surveyed have children (aged 7-17). Out of these households, a dismal 35 percent have at least one child who reads non-school books.

It is significant to note that non-school books' readership among children tends to be higher among the privileged social class, those with library at home and those whose household heads have high education. The individual's capacity to buy non-school books increases with social class, educational attainment, and personal monthly income.

In the same survey, fifty-eight percent of Filipino adults spent only a maximum of Php 200 on books in 2002. Only 15 percent are able to buy books. Others acquired them through: borrowing from other people (52%), receiving books as gifts (40%), borrowing from libraries (24%), renting (18%), and buying (15%). The Bible (22%) and romance novelettes (22%) are the most popular non-school books read by children.

School books, on the other hand, are supposed to be a major source of knowledge of children. However, scarcity of books in public schools, aggravated by text books scams, has farther pushed children's access to books. Controversies like the recent defective and error-laden school textbook prolong the agony of children in stretching the use of a single book to a number of children.
It is further heartbreaking to note that these substandard public school textbooks are partially funded by the World Bank. This means that the children do not just suffer from substandard and scarce school books but also from a flawed deal that will further deteriorate education quality of public schools.

Bring children to a good library and they will surely be unmindful of the time spent reading good books. But with majority of children living in poverty, where their stomachs are most often empty, how can their heads be filled with knowledge and new discoveries found in good books?

Collector's items: Old, few school books used and reused by countless children year after year.