School hires ventriloquist to encourage reading

PETALING JAYA: In a move to stir interest in the reading habit, a school here has resorted to using a ventriloquist who tells pupils about the joys of reading.
The Parent-Teacher Association of SRJK (C) Puay Chai 2 in Bandar Utama here hopes this will spur pupils to read instead of spending time on their digital gadgets.
PTA member Wendy Cheah said the ventriloquist gave his first performance on March 15 and it was well received by pupils.
A ventriloquist is a person who can speak or utter sounds so that they seem to come from somewhere else, especially an entertainer who makes their voice appear to come from a dummy of a person or animal.
Cheah said the school brought in the ventriloquist after conventional methods like setting up reading corners, displaying attractive books and having quizzes did not gain the desired result.
But the ventriloquist appears to have had some success.
"The response from the pupils was good and they enjoyed the session especially with the added jokes and humour during the session.
"The ventriloquist and his puppet talked about their reading adventure, which can stimulate the children to read the books," Cheah said.
The ventriloquist and his puppet related their reading adventure in Mandarin and English.
Initially Cheah worked hard at setting up several reading corners at strategic areas within the school compound to encourage children to pick it up and read while waiting for their parents after school.
She said the parents also came out with an idea of conducting quizzes with prize-giving while having a ventriloquist to do a show at one of the reading corners.
School principal Pang Lai Cheun said the school is grateful to the parents who helped to sponsor the books at the reading corners as well as the ventriloquist show in the school.
The school also invited authors to conduct storytelling sessions with the children while having the random quizzes in the sessions.