Missing the Reading Movement

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Quotes about tolerance written by students participating in a training are displayed at the 2020 Young Creators’ Summit in Art: 1 New Museum, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (15/1/2020). The event was the final activity of student training aimed at improving students’ media literacy to counter negative information, hate speech and provocation.

Research conducted in 2016 titled "World’s Most Literate Nations Ranked" placed Indonesia in 60th position, out of 61 countries, in terms of interest in reading.

The research was carried out by Central Connecticut State University, United States, and was quoted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to the finding, Indonesian people\'s interest in reading is only 0.001 percent. It means for every 1,000 Indonesians, only one is an avid reader.

Many groups in this country doubted the results of the research. Nearly four years later, however, there were no new findings in Indonesia that can counter the data. In fact, the Communications and Information Ministry (Kominfo) in early 2017, quoting Wearesocial data, stating that many Indonesians can stare at their gadget screens no less than nine hours a day.

Also read : Spreading “Virus” of Reading

Research conducted in 2018 by Nielsen Media Research also found that Indonesians spent no less than 4 hours and 53 minutes watching television and 3 hours 14 minutes surfing the internet every day. They spend 31 minutes to read a newspaper, 24 minutes to read a magazine and no less than 2 hours and 11 minutes listening to radio every day.

Reading is still the lowest in Indonesia. Watching is more dominant. A 2015 survey by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) found that 91.47 percent of young children preferred watching television and no more than 13.11 percent loved reading. Reading habits, especially reading books, face extraordinary challenges.

Kompas/Priyombodo

Students of Gugusan Bintang Islamic School, Ciracas, East Jakarta, enjoyed books while visiting the Jakarta National Library, February 18, 2020.

In fact, various efforts to foster interest in reading have been carried out, such as through the establishment of a number of community libraries. In 2018, a national movement of parents to read books for their children (Gernas Buku) was initiated to help improve the habit of reading as early as possible. However, the movement did not resonate with the public even though data from various sources in 2018 showed the sales of printed books increased compared to the previous year.

The spread of COVID-19, which was followed by large-scale social restrictions (PSBB): working from home, staying at home and studying at home, actually gives hopes to the growing interest in reading. When staying at home, people need new activities. Reading books can be an option. However, as reported by this daily on Monday (18/05/2020), the Indonesian book industry faces severe pressures and challenges. The market slows down and bookstore closed. The publisher also tried to boost the sale of books via the internet (online).

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In Indonesia, a 2017 data shows that there are 1,368 publishers that are members of the Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi), out of 8,800 publishers. Of course the publishers must unite and do the campaign together, so that the public will again look at their books and other printed materials as friends through the epidemic.

Real support from the government is certainly expected. The study at home policy, for example, needs to be followed by encouragement to read books, newspapers or other references. The reading movement needs to be encouraged again. Without joint movements, the tradition of reading might become a thing of the past.