Why Most Indonesians Don’t Like to Read?
“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” — J.K. Rowling
As a teacher, sometimes I ask my students whether they like to read or not. Most of them answer that they don’t like to read. Then, the question emerges within me “Why don’t they like to read?” and “Who can I blame for such a situation?”. Oh.. perhaps they haven’t found the right book just as JK Rowling said.
According to the research about literacy rate around the world conducted by Central Connecticut State University in 2016, Indonesia ranked at 60th out of 61 countries. The low literacy level in Indonesia really makes me worry. I mean, how can as learners they don’t like to read? How would they acquire the learning process to the fullest? Reading is not only a matter of “to read” sentences you see on a piece of paper. However, it’s also the process of learning as a whole that is to understand the content, to sort the information needed on a certain project, to decide whether you agree with the statement or not, and so on. So that, the learning will take place, then students can own the knowledge based on their own understanding as a result of the reading journey & the process of thinking. This kind of activity, later will result in enhancing the creativity & critical thinking skills that are very much needed in this modern society.
Then, the question is, who’s to blame? I think there are a lot of reasons & factors why Indonesia’s literacy level is considered low. It is because as a country, Indonesia is the 4th biggest country in the world that consists of a lot of people from different backgrounds, socioeconomic, religion, and culture. Not to mention the geography condition, it also affects the accessibility of the reading materials. Shortly, there are at least 3 factors: “Why Most Indonesians Don’t Like to Read?” that I am going to elaborate on in this article.
First, I believe every small habit that is possessed by an individual born from the family. Family is the first environment that children are exposed to. From the baby is born until the age of 4 until 5 is the golden age of the kid. They learn & imitate the habits & life principles from their family members. So, if the parents have a good reading habit as part of daily life, their children would also have a perception that reading is a fun activity & needed as a way of life. However, when we see the reality in Indonesia, not all parents in Indonesia are aware of the importance of reading. Not to expect that they also make reading as a way of life when they are worried about what to eat for tomorrow. It also relates with the family’s socioeconomic background.
Despite this challenge, I think our government and activists can make an effort to boost reading habits from an early age by creating a certain program. Take for an example, in Scotland that is named Unesco’s first city of Literature, the government works in a team with hospitals to send storybooks to newborn babies as a way to welcome them to the world. The non-governmental organisation, namely Scottish Book Trust, is responsible for running the program. They send a book to babies at three months and they will send it again on their first birthday. It is shown that in order to create change, there should be good teamwork between government & society. So, are you guys ready to take the challenge?
Second, there is a lack of accessibility to the reading materials. Indonesia is a huge country, it also means that the spreadness of facilities in each region is different. Those who live in big cities and come from good socioeconomic backgrounds tend to have great access to the reading materials. On the contrary, those who live in rural & suburban areas, also come from poor socioeconomic backgrounds tend to have limited access to the reading materials. Thus, it is very crucial for the government and activists to work together to create a program in expanding the reading access for all people in Indonesia such as having “Perpustakaan Berjalan ‘’ or adding the funding to give away fun-interactive books for marginalised students.
By doing those kinds of programs, I believe there would be a better change. Even if the change takes time, it’s okay. Slowly but surely, we’ll make Indonesia a literate country which will result in a great human resource. Another point about reading accessibility, in this modern era, we know that the reading habit might change too, not only reading from printed books, but we can access reading materials online. However, high quality E-reading materials are mostly not free. This is another challenge that should be tackled. As a famous phrase says, “If there’s a will, there’s a way”, I think the government can face this problem by 3 small steps: First, work in a team with literacy activists to create an online campaign about “How to Access & Read Good E-Reading Materials”. Second, ask society to be a curious person & don’t want to stop learning. Third, provide information on free reading materials that society can access that have good quality too. Encourage them to share the info to their closest people too.
Third, there is still a lot of homeworks to improve library quality and communities of readers in Indonesia. I have seen some reports from my bookworm buddies online who visited public libraries in their regions. They said that the library staffs are not friendly, the books are dusty, the books provided aren’t updated, the library room has a weird aroma, the toilet isn’t clean, and the list goes on. The reality is very ironic. Moreover, the list of books provided by most libraries in Indonesia’s schools shows that even though the government has increased the school funds for library development in July by 15%, most of the funds are spent to buy school textbooks. As a result, the reading interests among students are not increasing due to the inadequate book collection. Because students find a lot of textbooks in the library, they will find that reading is a boring activity and it is just to prepare for an examination. The reading perception has shifted from its original meaning that reading should be a fun activity where students can explore things, become creative, & imaginative.
In addition, if a library exists, there should be numbers of people who liven up the activities in the library. This place shouldnt be merely repositories for books, but it should be a place that plays a key role in building & strengthening the local communities which encourages curiosity & creativity in learning. For example, in Australia & Japan, local libraries play a crucial role as community & social hubs. There are events such as story telling sessions, craft classes, short courses, and discussions for both children & adults. This hasn’t happened in Indonesia, but that doesn’t mean nothing is being done to respond to the literacy crisis. Nowadays, plenty of reading communities, educators, activists, as well as ordinary people have taken up the challenge. For example, book clubs from twitter create fun & attractive events for the members such as reading together in silence then discussing & sharing books they read, book discussion events with the author for free, reading challenge, and many more.
In short, the low literacy rate of Indonesians is caused by many factors. Some of them are mentioned above along with how we can cope with the crisis. Most important note is that change comes from ourselves, so if you are already aware about this reading crisis, be an agent of change around your environment. Influence your closest people to love reading, to make it as part of life. Finally, there should be a good teamwork between the government, activists, society, and ordinary people. So that in the future, Indonesia can become a great country with great human resources who possess extraordinary critical thinking skills, visionary, creative, & progressive.
At last, please remember the importance of reading for your life as quoted below:
“As food to keep our body alive, reading is food to our mind.” — unknown
References:
Australia Indonesia Youth Association. (2017). Are Indonesians really not interested in reading?
Farid, Lily Y. (2016). Indonesians are not big readers — but is anything being done about it?. University of Melbourne
___. (2020). The Absurd and Ironic Indonesian Reading Culture. Accessed from:
https://zilbest.com/education/reading-culture/
Ramadhani, W. (2019). Reading Interest Problems in Indonesia (Book Day Opinion). Institut Teknologi Sepuluh November
https://www.its.ac.id/news/en/2019/05/22/reading-interest-problems-in-indonesia-book-day-opinion/
Solihi, L. (2020). Indonesia must urgently tackle poor childhood literacy levels. NIKKEI ASIA
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Indonesia-must-urgently-tackle-poor-childhood-literacy-levels
