We should not get hung up on the antiquated notion that there has to be a physical book in a child’s hand.
Screens as Catalysts, Not Distractions
A new Malaysian survey challenges conventional publishing wisdom about digital distractions, revealing that 73% of frequent readers engage daily with digital content versus just 53% of infrequent readers.
The Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) study of 1,168 students suggests screens could be powerful literacy allies rather than enemies.
Memo to the International Publishers Association – IPA as it prepares for the July Kuala Lumpur Congress: The future of global publishing depends on addressing the growing crisis in education where reading is treated as a mechanical process to pass test and an obsession with phonics is sucking the joy out of reading.
PISA Plunge Underlines Urgency
Malaysia’s reading scores in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) plummeted from 415 to 388 points – dropping 1.4 years’ worth of learning and falling far below the OECD average of 476. The nation now ranks among the world’s five worst performers for score declines across all subjects.
Students who read infrequently consistently underperform academically, with reading habits accounting for up to 98% of academic performance variance in comparable international studies.
Socioeconomic Divide Exacerbates Problem
The survey exposes stark inequality: children from lower-income households are twice as likely to read infrequently, with nearly one-third owning fewer than ten books. Frequent readers typically have access to over 20 titles at home. This “book poverty” creates a persistent achievement gap that digital distribution could potentially bridge.
But we should not get hung up on the antiquated notion that there has to be a physical book in a child’s hand.
Digital Engagement: The 20-Percentage-Point Opportunity
The critical finding for publishers is the digital engagement gap between frequent and infrequent readers. Stanford research on platforms like Bookopolis demonstrates that social digital tools foster prosocial reading behaviours, with students motivated to share recommendations and curate reading lists beyond classroom requirements.
Malaysian students already demonstrate this potential—screen-centric frequent readers show dramatically higher engagement levels.
The View From The Beach
For publishing professionals, Malaysia’s crisis presents a clear digital opportunity. The report recommends culturally relevant digital content, expanded access to e-books, and responsible technology integration. With coordinated efforts between schools, families, and content creators, digital platforms could democratise access and transform screen time into reading time.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
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