Suara Pembaruan, page 16
Ministry of National Education (Kemendikbud), Muhadjir Effendy said that reading skills of SMA students is apparently still at the same level as those of SMP students. This low skill of reading is due to the low number of books produced. This condition also resulted in the low rate of literacy development in Indonesia compared to other countries.
He added that the availability of books and interest in reading should be in balance or else things will decline. The low interest in reading among Indonesian people has seen Indonesia become a country with lower literacy levels. According to research by Central Connecticut State University at the beginning of March 2016 on Most Literate Nations in the World, Indonesia ranked 60th of 61 countries.
Muhadjir supported and appreciated the Indonesia International Book Fair (IBF) 2016. He said that this event is one form of the government’s responsibilities. It is time for the government to encourage book-related activities. In order to bring success to this literacy program, he invited all parties to participate so that Indonesian people can improve their reading skills.
