Young people seek solutions to promote a reading culture.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the Department of Education and Training, recently held a ceremony to summarize and award prizes for the preliminary round of the Can Tho City Reading Culture Ambassador Contest 2025. The meticulously crafted entries demonstrated the young people's interest in reading and, especially, their search for answers to the question: "How can we develop a reading culture?".

Students view the winning entries from the preliminary round of the Can Tho City Reading Culture Ambassador Contest 2025. Photo: DUY KHOI

Phan Bao Phuc, a student from Thanh Thang Secondary and High School (Thanh An commune), won a prize in the Preliminary Round and third place in the National Final Round of the 2025 Reading Culture Ambassador Competition. In the section on initiatives to develop reading culture, Bao Phuc created a unique and feasible "Mobile Knowledge ATM." This ATM doesn't hold money, but it can enrich knowledge and souls through the sharing of books. Bao Phuc shared: "I hope that each book not only brings knowledge but also opens up beautiful thoughts, helping young people to love life, their homeland, and live responsibly towards the community."

Meanwhile, Tran Le Gia Bao, a student from Thoi Long Secondary School (Thoi Long Ward), presented six plans, ranging from raising self-awareness in reading, designing book display booths, organizing reading classes for disadvantaged children, to organizing a "Book Festival in My Village" and a "Books for Toys - Toys for Books" model. Among these, the sixth plan, titled "The Challenge: Books Replace Social Media for a Day," is a novel approach suitable for young people. Gia Bao emphasized: "The journey of developing a reading culture for children is long and requires many hands to contribute. But if each person starts with very small things – a book, a shared reading session… – it will contribute to forming a reading habit."

Meanwhile, Duong Hoang Trong Nhan, a 5th-grade student at Nguyen Binh Khiem Primary School (Thoi Long ward), is leveraging social media to promote reading culture with his model "Good Books Every Day with Zalo and Facebook". This approach allows young people to read books anytime, anywhere, and provides them with a wide variety of choices.

Among the 7,191 entries from 80 schools in Can Tho City (before the merger) submitted to the Preliminary Round of the Can Tho City Reading Culture Ambassador Contest 2025, there were many excellent and practical initiatives. Each person had their own answer to the question: "How to develop a reading culture?" but the common point was the need for the attention and cooperation of the community, the support of information technology, and social activities to spread the reading movement.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Binh, Director of Can Tho City Library, this year's entries were well-invested in terms of content, with many proposing practical initiatives and innovative video clips. This shows the interest and widespread impact of the competition on schools and students.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam Huong, Head of the Literature Department at Chau Van Liem High School (Ninh Kieu Ward), shared: "Every year, the Literature Department collaborates with the school library to organize a Book Promotion and Introduction Contest to help students practice writing and presentation skills and cultivate a love of reading. This is also how the school creates a pool of candidates to participate in the preliminary round of the city's Reading Culture Ambassador Contest. All teachers in the Literature Department also strengthen coordination with homeroom teachers to guide students in perfecting the content and format of their entries; encouraging participation through awarding points and prizes... In 2024, the school received approximately 300 entries, and in 2025, that number doubled."

Mr. Nguyen Van Hien, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, emphasized: "Listening to the stories and emotional entries of the students in the Preliminary Round, I am even more confident that reading culture has been, is, and will continue to spread strongly among students in the city."

To ensure the sustainable development of the reading movement in the future, the leaders of the Department of Education and Training suggest: instead of just organizing reading sessions for the sake of a campaign, let each activity become a memorable experience, helping students truly love reading. Parents should spend time reading with their children, schools should encourage small libraries in classrooms, and the community should share knowledge resources to support the younger generation. Let's spread beautiful stories and good models, and acknowledge the efforts of teachers and students, because every timely word of encouragement can ignite a passion.

DANG HUYNH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/gioi-tre-tim-giai-phap-phat-trien-van-hoa-doc-a195569.html