ISLAMABAD: To mark the World Book Day, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director John Groarke on Monday visited a school in Islamabad and read books with students. “Reading is a critical foundational skill, upon which all future learning – and earning – is built,” he said. According to the 2015 Pakistan Education Statistics, 60 percent of students age 10 and older are literate. Learning to read takes practice – both in school and out of school. Communities across Pakistan often lack access to reading materials. Through the Pakistan Reading Project, USAID aims to improve the reading skills of 1.3 million children across Pakistan through working with teachers and involving communities to bolster a culture of reading and bring books and other reading materials directly to children. “Reading is a life skill. To learn this skill, children need to practice their reading skills and parents must read to their children and with their children, said USAID Mission Director Groarke. “A reading culture develops when entire communities encourage, practice, and appreciate books and the habit of reading. Today is, indeed, a special day because it is World Book Day – and what could be a better way to celebrate this day than by reading with our children?” Through the $165 million Pakistan Reading Project, USAID supports provincial and regional Departments of Education to improve classroom learning environments for reading, improve policies and systems for reading, and build community-based support for reading in Pakistan.