December 12, 2014 - USAID Reading Together Project will celebrate National Literature Day in the Kyrgyz Republic. The purpose of the holiday is to celebrate Chingiz Aitmatov’s achievements, familiarize students with his work and increase public interest in reading books. National Literature Day will be celebrated in Bishkek and Chui, Talas, Jalal-Abad, Batken and Osh oblasts via a series of fun events in primary schools including open classes, reading competitions, book fairs, drawing contests, and literary quizzes.
The following events will be organized in Bishkek.

• School №15 in Pervomaisky district will hold an early grade drawing competition based on the works of Chingiz Aitmatov from 9.00 am to 12.00pm.

• Kara Zhygach high school will hold a best reader competition from 9.00 am till 10.00 am. The students will read the works of C. Aitmatov, A. Osmonov, A. Tokombaev, S.Eraliev, and other famous poets and writers of the Kyrgyz Republic.

• Shopping malls TSUM and Bishkek Park will organize an Aitmatov Reading event from 16.00 pm till 18.00 pm. The mall’s visitors will be invited to read a few sentences from Aitmatov’s novel First Teacher and guess where the lines are from.

The National Literature Day is a rather young holiday: it was first celebrated in 2013. The holiday is dedicated to the memory of a major literary figure in the Kyrgyz Republic: Chingiz Aitmatov who was born on December 12.

USAID Reading Together project, implemented by the American Research Institute and Save the Children, began in June 2013, and will continue through 2017. The project supports the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education and Science, helping increase the reading skills and comprehension of primary school students by working with in-service teacher training institutes, schools and communities, as well as the private sector. To date, the project has launched in-service training in over 600 primary schools reaching over 3,000 teachers.

USAID partners for quality education with the people and the government of the Kyrgyz Republic so every child can have a brighter future. The Quality Reading Project is one of many projects supported by the American people as a Program of assistance through the Agency for International Development (USAID).