According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Reading can be defined as a particular interpretation of something. In this 21st century, The rate at which students pay blind eyes to their studies and their reading habit is really alarming and needs urgent attention. Firstly, As a Student, we all know he/she to be the Future leader of this nation. Therefore must be of high standard and qualification. A student must be able to address the general public in his/her various field without any form of frightness or shyness.
Quoting what "Francis Bacon" said; And I quote "Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man" but Africans as a case study, most especially Nigerians, most students prefer to surf the internet in search of things that are irrelevant to them or their lives but will prefer to waste their entire time watching irrelevant videos and listening to Music which will have no impact in their lives or studies.
Secondly, students of nowadays spend so many hours on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram browsing through posts that are of no benefits to them, wouldn't be beneficial or have any impact in their lives. Most Youths of nowadays are now involved in internet fraud (Yahoo) which has consumed a major part of their lives, preventing them from concentrating on their studies, thereby affecting their reading culture. On the other hand, Students poor reading habit can be viewed from the psychological (which is the science or study of the mind and behavior) and emotional [a strong feeling (such as love, anger, joy, hate, or fear)] perspective.
The moment a student feels intimidated on campus, He/She will have some emotional problems either negatively or positively which can affect the state of his/her brain and cause instability to his/her mental well being. A well matured Male as a case study who actually happens to be a friend of mine gained admission into the Polytechnic (name withheld for security purpose) got intimidated while on campus by some notorious cultist and this actually affected him in a lot of ways and was tempted to join the group. What a pity!
Poor reading habit eventually leads to malpractice in examination which is rampant in our institutions most especially in Nigeria, You can imagine some students coming into the Exam Hall with different types or forms of exam malpractice materials like Phones, body or paper inscription and lots more. At "Federal Polytechnic, Offa", Cheating in an examination hall is prohibited and if someone is caught, that is the end of such individual's education in the school. This act needs to be adopted by the Universities and other Polytechnics because it will be of a great help in curbing the high rate of exam malpractices due to poor reading habit.
The General state of the country is another factor that may influence the reading habit in a student's life. In a country whereby a student will have to stay awake till around 11-12 pm just to have his/her lamp charged just so, they could read. The rate is really high most especially in my present Institution and community (Offa, Kwara State). We implore the Federal Government and the State Government to find a remedy to the instability of Power Supply by the Privatized institutions in charge of Electricity in Nigeria. To encourage and promote reading habits among the youths. Now, As a student and probably a graduate in the making, Poor reading habit will have a bad effect in someone's career life later in the future.
If a student is well versed and usually read his books day in-day out, he wouldn't have any issue with how to pronounce words and understanding the meaning of the words. You can imagine a graduate, whose grade is a Distinction or an Upper Credit grade and he/she can't express him/herself correctly among other colleagues or even in an interview. What else can we say about such scenario, That clearly shows that he/she is not up to the standard of the result and might have been cheating to get the result throughout his/her 4-5 years in the institution.
From my own perspective, To curb this poor reading habit on campus, firstly the Academic Board Members should organize an orientation for all students with no exception to any department on the importance of cultivating a good reading habit especially in their various fields of specialization. Also, as humans are generally forgetful, it is important that incentives or reminders in form of seminal or pictorial representation can be organised or shared among students within the campus to reinforce the essence of being a student of knowledge. Secondly, A conducive environment will go a long way in profering solution to the deteriorated reading habit that has eaten deep into higher institutions. For example, A student cannot be expected to read and assimilate or give total concentration in an environment with noise pollution.
As we all know that we're now in the Era of Technology, Institutions should try as much as possible to make the E-Library available and functional and also develop his own Mobile Application which should be updated every semester containing the necessary course outlines for each department, This will grant easy access of materials even if the student is addicted to his/her phone as he/she will gain one or two things from surfing the internet instead of wasting his/her precious time. Addressing the student, The student needs to work on various aspects too like adjusting their reading attitude (He/She should ask him/herself if he's reading to understand or just to tell others he/she read and read and read). A student should give full concentration while reading and minimize wasting time on frivolities such as Music, Partying, Playing etc to avoid been distracted.
My piece of advice for my fellow students is that we are the leader of tomorrow and we can start building our futures now by improving our reading habit before it is too late. Nobody is an island of knowledge as we all know and the most brilliant student in your department is also someone like you, It's just that He/She plans and works towards it. You too can do better!!! Just make Hay while the Sun is still shining... Thank you and God Bless.
P.S This article was written by Johnson Asena Ayomide is an advocate for Girls under the Umbrella of "Royal Pearls Girl Up Club, Nigeria" (Affiliated with "Girl Up Club, United Nation") and a Publisher for Knowislam.com.ng. Email: [email protected] | Facebook: facebook.com/iamjuncinayo | Instagram: @iamjuncinayo | Twitter: @iamjucinayo | WhatsApp: +2348179398383.
