Scholastic India hosted ONRT, more than 2100 schools participated across the country
New Delhi: ONRT (One Nation Reading Together), an annual event by Scholastic India conducted its 13th edition on January 24th, 2020, where over 2 million children from 2100 K-12 Schools across India participated, along with 400+ playschools, ten libraries, twenty NGOs and select coaching centers.
Additionally, about two thousand parents have registered to join this reading movement with their kids. To mark this highly-anticipated occasion, there are sizeable celebrations happening in Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Chennai. Children across the country spend 20 minutes reading for fun and engaged in other activities that celebrate reading as an enjoyable and enriching experience.
At DLF Public School, Ghaziabad, Author, and filmmaker Samina Mishra read the Reading Pledge to 500 children from 10 neighboring schools, followed by a storytelling and quiz session by renowned storyteller Ms. Seema Wahi Mukherjee.
In Kolkata, the NGO, Future Hope, and All Women Bengal Council hosted the celebrations. Well-known authors Sampurna Chattarji and Eurig Salisbury read the pledge and hosted the day’s activities for over fifty kids in Future Hope’s event.
In Chennai, over 4000 kids from twenty-five schools gathered at The Hindu Senior Sec School, Indiranagar, Adyar where the reading pledge was read by all the students followed by storytelling sessions by Ms. Shilpa Krishnan. The kids also went on an awareness march in the neighborhood to spread the message of the ONRT initiative.
Scholastic India was established in the year 1997, and since its inception, the organization has strived to foster the habit of reading and creating new readers. One Nation Reading Together (ONRT) is a step in this direction.
‘‘We have been running this initiative for 13 years in India and it gives us immense satisfaction to see millions of kids reading for pleasure on one designated day. Such initiatives take us a step closer to our mission of ‘Raising Readers’ in the country’’, says Neeraj Jain, M.D, Scholastic India.
In a few schools, authors or a local celebrity were invited to read and celebrate the event with the school.
“It’s been wonderful being a part of the ONRT project. I congratulate Scholastic for the innovative initiative, as I firmly believe in empowering children through an enjoyable Reading Programme”, said Ms. Angela Ghose, Principal Union Chapel School, Kolkata
In the last 12 years, over 4,200 schools and over 6 million students have participated in this nationwide event. Authors like Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, Gulzar, Paro Anand have marked their presence in the ONRT sessions.