Alipurduar, Sept. 9 -- At a time when social media, short videos and reels are increasingly drawing students away from books, Alipurduar Mahila Mahavidyalaya has launched an innovative initiative to revive the reading habit. Under its new 'Let's Read Together' programme, the college is providing books to students and encouraging them to create one-minute social media reels based on what they read.
Initially, 26 students from the college, which has around 1,500 students, have been selected for the programme. They have been divided into five groups, each headed by a team leader. The groups will collectively read and discuss books provided by the college and have 12 days to create a reel highlighting the central theme of their chosen book, along with their own interpretation and creativity.
The three best-performing groups, as judged by college professors, will receive first, second and third prizes.
The college principal, Amitabh Roy, said the initiative was launched to encourage the younger generation to develop an interest in reading beyond textbooks.
"We have initially launched the initiative to encourage the younger generation to take an interest in reading beyond their textbooks. Gradually, all the students of the college will be brought under the project. Every month a new group will be selected from the college for this 'Let's Read Together'," he said.
The books handed over to students on Wednesday cover diverse subjects and personalities, including Swami Vivekananda, Socrates, Rudyard Kipling's folk tales of Rajasthan and the life of Sister Nivedita.
Education Department professor Ritwika Laskar said the initiative would help students discover learning beyond conventional education and use social media to share the essence of books with society.
Student Aritri Saha said turning a book's theme into a one-minute reel was "completely new and exciting" as well as challenging.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.