Ranchi: Jharkhand’s month-long “Mere Shabd, Meri Kahani” Reading Campaign 2026 is being conducted across around 34,000 govt primary schools and will continue until Sept 18. The campaign covers students from Classes I to V and higher classes.Avinav Kumar, state coordinator (quality) at the Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC), said between 25,000 and 29,000 schools had participated in the campaign each day. According to evening data, more than 21,000 schools took part in Wednesday’s “Read Aloud” activity.“East Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Ranchi and Lohardaga are among the better-performing districts,” he said.The “Reading Buddy” activity, which began on Monday, will continue until Sept 7. Under the initiative, older students are paired with younger children to read, listen to and discuss stories.During Wednesday’s “Read Aloud” activity, teachers read stories expressively and encouraged students to participate.Ranchi DEO Wasim Ahmed said the campaign aimed to promote reading beyond textbooks.“The objective is to develop reading habits while improving fluency, comprehension, vocabulary and logical thinking. Story writing and storytelling also give children opportunities to imagine and express themselves confidently, while local-language literature can strengthen their cultural identity,” he said.At Government Middle School, Dibdih, teacher Binaya Dash said nearly all of the school’s 350 students, from KG to Class VIII, participated in the campaign.“Today, I conducted an expressive reading session with Class VIII. It made the session more engaging and encouraged students to listen and respond to the story. It felt good to see the whole class participate,” she said.Class VIII student Prerna Toppo said she sometimes struggled to read fluently, especially when she encountered unfamiliar words.“Listening to the teacher and reading along helped me understand where to pause and how to pronounce words better. I hope such activities will make me more confident,” she said.