Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, with the support of bKash, has inaugurated this year’s Nationwide Enrichment (Book Reading) programme by distributing books among the students of nine schools of Barishal.
Shahidul Islam, Deputy Commissioner of Barishal formally inaugurated the programme in a ceremony held at Barishal Shilpakala Academy on Monday. Kamal Quadir, Chief Executive Officer of bKash, Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam (retd), Chief External & Corporate Affairs Officer of bKash; Shameem Al Mamun, Director of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro and others were also present on the occasion.
With distribution of books among the students, the book reading programme extended to Barishal’s Baptist Mission Boys High School, Halima Khatun Girls High School, Alekanda Rupatoli Sagordi Girls High School, Collegiate High School, Asmat Ali Khan Institution, Kaunia Girls High School, Shahid Altaf Smriti Girls High School, Momtaz Mojidunnesa Girls High School, and Ucep-Sayed Bari Alekanda Technical School.
Prior to handing over the books, a quiz competition was organised in the auditorium with the participation of around 450 students of these nine schools. Prizes and certificates were awarded to 40 quiz winners.
With the aim to inculcate book reading habits among the students, Bishwo Shahitto Kendro has been conducting this Nationwide Enrichment programme. This initiative will help the students to shape their minds as enlightened human beings. To further expand and implement this objective, bKash has been associated with this programme for the past decade. Under this initiative, more than 300,000 books have been provided to various educational institutions that have benefitted 3 million readers nationwide. This year, a total of 39, 860 books have been included to the book reading programme.
It is mentionable that bKash has been engaged with various initiatives to encourage book reading habits since its inception. bKash has been cooperating in organising Bangla Academy’s ‘Amar Ekushey’ Book Fair as the main sponsor since 2018. In addition, the company is distributing 20,000 copies of the graphic novel series ‘Mujib’ every year to 500 Bangla and English medium schools across the country to inspire school students with the ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. bKash has also been bearing the annual tuition expenses of the students of Proyash, a specialised school in Jashore, since 2019.
