Children’s literature, Dawn Editorial
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| Tomorrow’s Pakistan will need citizens who are not just literate but also world-aware. For that, the children of today need both fiction and non-fiction books, neither of which are being produced in significant numbers. Pakistan must encourage writers, poets and scholars to turn their attention to children’s needs |
At the launch of a children’s poetry collection in Islamabad on Monday, Prof Inamul Haque Javed of the Allama Iqbal Open University pointed to Pakistan’s need to develop a children’s literature industry. His assessment is correct; Shehnaz Rauf’s book Raushni is one of the increasingly few publications that are oriented towards young minds.
While Pakistan has a reasonably vibrant literary industry in Urdu and even publications in English by Pakistani authors are increasing in number, the needs of children remain unmet. In neither language, let alone the provincial languages, are there enough locally written and published books for children and teenagers — despite the fact that the link between reading and honed intelligence is well-established.
Some may argue that if internationally published reading material is available in locally accessible languages, there is no real need for a Pakistan-based children’s literature industry. This assessment misses the point. Reading material that is written by Pakistanis and published in the country is not only culturally relevant, it is also likely to be more affordable. Meanwhile, the lack of diverse reading material further discourages children from reading. The reading habit is already on a trajectory of rapid decline in the country, aided in no small part by factors such as the lack of public libraries and the temptations of computers and the Internet. Tomorrow’s Pakistan will need citizens who are not just literate but also world-aware. For that, the children of today need both fiction and non-fiction books, neither of which are being produced in significant numbers. Pakistan must encourage writers, poets and scholars to turn their attention to children’s needs. Meanwhile, the publishing industry should realise that this is an untapped market. At the policy level, it should be understood that higher education reforms will not count for much unless they are bolstered by improvements at the lower levels.
While Pakistan has a reasonably vibrant literary industry in Urdu and even publications in English by Pakistani authors are increasing in number, the needs of children remain unmet. In neither language, let alone the provincial languages, are there enough locally written and published books for children and teenagers — despite the fact that the link between reading and honed intelligence is well-established.
Some may argue that if internationally published reading material is available in locally accessible languages, there is no real need for a Pakistan-based children’s literature industry. This assessment misses the point. Reading material that is written by Pakistanis and published in the country is not only culturally relevant, it is also likely to be more affordable. Meanwhile, the lack of diverse reading material further discourages children from reading. The reading habit is already on a trajectory of rapid decline in the country, aided in no small part by factors such as the lack of public libraries and the temptations of computers and the Internet. Tomorrow’s Pakistan will need citizens who are not just literate but also world-aware. For that, the children of today need both fiction and non-fiction books, neither of which are being produced in significant numbers. Pakistan must encourage writers, poets and scholars to turn their attention to children’s needs. Meanwhile, the publishing industry should realise that this is an untapped market. At the policy level, it should be understood that higher education reforms will not count for much unless they are bolstered by improvements at the lower levels.
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