Home Literacy Environment and Parental Support as Advocates of Children Literacy

Abstract

Creating readers who want to read rather than creating readers who can read should be the focus of school teachers who have extensive opportunities to inculcate reading habit among children. This study aimed to investigate the role of school teachers in promoting reading habits among primary school children. We conducted in-depth interviews with primary school teachers, both male and female, teaching in two private school systems in Lahore, to gather data. Most of the respondents (66.6%) considered evolving technologies, TV, and mobile as hindrances, citing that these were replacing books, eliminating reading interest, and capturing the children's leisure time. Social and environmental factors such as the father's occupation, parents' illiteracy, and parents' negative attitude towards reading had a negative impact on the reading habit. Other social factors, such as insecurity, load-shedding, and an unstable political situation, also had negative effects. The findings of this study will be helpful for educationists, education policymakers, school teachers, librarians, and parents of children to effectively inculcate a reading habit among schoolchildren. We have made several recommendations to this effect.