The parliamentary group of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) proposes that the National Reading Day should be celebrated in Moldova on February 14, on the birthday of late poet Grigore Vieru, IPN reports.

PAS MP Angela Munteanu-Pojoga, who presented the legislative proposal, in a news conference said that in a society with a high level of intellectual health in which they read, the children grow creative, free and capable of providing solutions to future problems.

“It is important to promote the culture of reading in the family. Moldova will develop only when our children start to love the book. Regrettably, they read less nowadays. A Moldovan reads on average by three minutes a day less. Statistics show that over 60% of the Moldovans haven’t read a book the past three months. For comparison, a citizen from Estonia reads by 14 minutes a day on average, a German - about 16 books a year on average,” stated Angela Munteanu-Pojoga.

Experts say there is a close connection between passion for reading and the economic and social development of the country. A World Bank study shows that the high literacy rates are associated with healthier populations, with fewer offenses, with a higher economic growth rate. The UN considers education is a solution to stopping poverty and protecting the planet.

Psychologists say that when reading, the people become empathic. Reading is very important primarily for adolescents as reading enriches the vocabulary, broadens the horizons, is beneficial to the soul and mind, educates and disciplines, stated the PAS MP.

Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan said the institution he heeds supports the legislative proposal. He called on the people not to wait for the National Reading Day to be celebrated in a year, on February 14, 2023, and to start to read books today now that the notion of functional illiteracy appeared and attacks our society. Functional illiteracy appears when the person can read a text, knows the letters and words, but cannot understand the meaning of the text.