Facilitating Greater Access to Reading Resources for Children and Adolescents from Lower-income Families

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Education (a) how do schools support children and adolescents, especially those from lower-income families, to facilitate greater access to reading resources, including free online reading resources provided by the National Library; and (b) whether students can be taught in school how to use National Library apps like NLB Mobile and Libby to access these free reading resources.

Schools provide a wide range of print and digital reading materials to cater to the different age groups and varied interests of students. The school library system is linked to the National Library Board's (NLB) catalogue, pointing students to curated e-books from NLB.

Schools also work with NLB on reading programmes, such as kidsREAD, which provides younger students from lower-income families with books and taps on volunteers to read to them. For older students, the Ministry of Education (MOE) supports the habit of reading the news to cultivate their interest in current affairs. At the secondary level, MOE partners Ngee Ann Kongsi and SPH Media Trust to provide all students with access to Mother Tongue Language digital news resources. At the pre-university level, students have been given accounts to read The Straits Times online.

Teachers guide students on how to select reading materials and how to access e-resources. Schools are also provided with the information and links on how to access NLB's reading apps. MOE will encourage schools to share these materials with their students to help them utilise the NLB Mobile and Libby reading apps to access more reading resources.