Page 88 - EW-January-2026

Special Report

25

BOOKS ALL EDUCATORS

SHOULD READ

As education systems worldwide gravitate from memory-based
rote learning towards interactive, inquiry-based pedagogies, a
widening gap in teachers’ extra-curricular reading and general
knowledge is becoming increasingly evident in India’s schools

Summiya Yasmeen

I T’S HARDLY A SECRET THAT THE majority of standing Teacher Capabilities in rural Uttar Pradesh and

Bihar,’ conducted in 2007-08 by Prof. Geeta Kingdon,
India’s 10 million schoolteachers are ill-read.
chair of education economics and international develop-
Ask a teacher what non-prescribed textbook
ment at the Institute of Education, University College, Lon-
she is reading currently, and the response is
often vague or evasive. For many teachers,
don, highlighted that less than 5 percent of teachers read
reading seldom extends beyond the textbooks
texts such as the Bhagwad Gita and Ramayana.
they are required to teach. And sometimes
not even them in entirety. Selected chapters non-prescribed books, and even these tend to be religious
“It’s sad but true that most teachers in India don’t read
and photocopied notes passed on by their anything beyond board-prescribed textbooks. This applies
predecessors are deemed sufficient. But as education sys- to teachers in government and private schools. There’s con-
tems worldwide gravitate from memory-based rote learning spicuous lack of reading for pleasure and/or professional
towards interactive, inquiry-based pedagogies, this gap in development within the teachers’ community. I blame this
teachers’ reading and knowledge is becoming increasingly on the mediocre, rote-centric school and higher educa-
evident in India’s classrooms with their pupils perform- tion systems that they’ve passed through, which fails to
ing poorly in latter day tests that assess creativity, critical stimulate questioning and critical thinking skills and love
thinking, collaboration and problem-solving. for reading. School managements — especially of private
The few studies conducted on K-12 teachers’ reading schools, most of which have well-stocked libraries — need
habits confirm this. A survey of Indian school teachers’ to take the lead to motivate and incentivise their teachers
reading habits, published in Researchers World (Palani, to read for pleasure. Because extracurricular reading equips
2012), found that beyond a daily newspaper, most teach- teachers with the skills to go beyond prescribed curricu-
ers “struggled with consistent reading, reading few books lums and stimulate the creativity of their students. More
annually”. Another survey titled ‘TELLS Study — Under- importantly, a well-read teacher is an excellent role model

88 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2026