A. Kosinets considers it necessary to expand the list of literature mandatory for schoolchildren to read

May 30, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Kosinets believes it is necessary to expand the list of literature for mandatory reading by schoolchildren during summer holidays. He stated this today at a meeting of the regional executive committee, where the progress of implementing the Year of the Book events in the region was discussed, BELTA correspondent reports. Answering the governor's question about the current list of books for mandatory reading, First Deputy Head of the Education Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Leonid Stepanov lamented that compared to the Soviet school, it is almost twice as small. In addition, in the graduating classes, the program provides for only one hour of literature, while previously at least three hours per week were allocated for studying this subject. The chairman of the regional executive committee stated that it is necessary to revive the love for books. In his opinion, the list of literature that a student must read in the summer should be doubled, and the number of hours for studying literature can be increased through elective classes. "Whatever we say about the advent of the Internet, electronic media, without the written word, they will not exist," he believes. School libraries in the region need to update their collections with classic children's and fiction works by Belarusian, Russian, and foreign authors. According to the Education Department of the Regional Executive Committee, such literature has not been centrally supplied to the libraries of educational institutions for more than 20 years. Education departments are often offered mainly expensive book products by modern author groups or authors, which are rarely used in the educational process. In this regard, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee decided to provide targeted funding for education departments to purchase fiction, educational and methodological, socially significant, and artistic literature for the formation and replenishment of library collections of educational institutions. -0-