​​​​​​​Lucknow, Dec 30: The Uttar Pradesh government has mandated newspaper reading in all schools as one of the scholastic subjects.

The School Education Department has issued order in this connection wherein the secondary and basic primary schools in the state are directed to include newspaper reading and words drilling from the texts as a daily activity for students.

Department of Basic Education, Uttar Pradesh in a post on X mentioned, “This initiative aimed at developing reading interest, logical thinking, expression skills, and the values of aware citizenship among the children.”

According to the order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Secondary and Basic Primary Education) Parth Sarathi Sen Sharma, Hindi and English newspapers will be available in school libraries.

"At least 10 minutes must be dedicated daily during morning assembly for newspaper reading. During this time, students will read out key editorials and major news developments from national, international and sports news on a rotational basis so that they will remain updated with the current affairs," read the order.

Following the assembly, the students will take part in the "word of the day" exercise, where five difficult words from newspapers will be selected and displayed on the notice board to enhance vocabulary.

Apart from it, the students of Classes IX to XII will be encouraged to write editorials once a week and participate in group discussions in class with word games.

As the would be citizens, they should discuss news on societal issues and development and are advised to prepare scrapbooks, take part in crossword puzzle and Sudoku competitions, on the newspapers’ contents.

The parents, teachers and guardians greeted the noble vision of the government in making the students future ready regarding their jobs, rights and duties.