TEHRAN – Preschoolers at kindergartens across Iran enjoy book reading sessions each Monday during the current Iranian academic year, which began on Saturday.

The program was announced during a ceremony on the occasion of the first day of school year at the Iran Mehr Kindergarten in western Tehran.

The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the State Welfare Organization signed an agreement, according to which kindergartens nationwide are to allocate a session to book reading each Monday.

The agreement was signed by the deputy culture minister Mohammad Solgi and the head of the State Welfare Organization, Anoushiravan Mohseni-Bandpei. 

Kindergartens in Iran are under supervision of the State Welfare Organization, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.

“Today, book reading is one of the main concerns for the Iranian society. We should be aware that book reading help us to teach social skills to children,” the culture minister Abbas Salehi said during the ceremony.

He expressed his hope over the effect of regular book reading at kindergartens to make children professional book readers.

Photo: Culture minister Abbas Salehi (R) and labor minister Ali Rabiei holding a number of children’s books at a kindergarten in Tehran 

SB/MG