Under the grant introduced to increase literature of Maldives National University (MNU), the university has launched two of its books.
Both releases are focused towards children with environment-centric themes. The books were released by Parliament Speaker and former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed.
After officially releasing the books, the Speaker addressed on the importance of reading; a practice slowly vanishing according to him. According to Nasheed, the practice can be fostered among children with the subsequent fostering of the practice among adults.
With the grant introduced by MNU, local authors and creatives have been provided with the opportunity to release their works at a professional capacity.
Both the books released on Tuesday, October 11 were written by Leela Ahmed, the university's Dean of Students and illustrated by local illustrator Maadhih Mohamed.
Speaking about the inspiration to create the stories, Leela claims she got the idea to write them amid the Covid-19 pandemic - during which the island nation was under a nationwide lockdown. She hopes with both her releases, children will be encouraged to take care of the surrounding environment where they are growing up.
Meanwhile, MNU confirms receiving 30 proposals to author books under the Book Writing Grant. Following a review of the proposals, a total of 14 proposals were selected for which a combined total of nearly a million Rufiyaa was extended.
Another initiative under MNU's effort to improve its book library, the university had opened a book fair on Tuesday. The fair too, was opened by the Parliament Speaker.
A total of 22 parties provided more than 1,400 books for the fair. The fair had run until Thursday, October 13.
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