DBA president Ashraf suggests unis combine international conferences and bookfairs

Dr. Ashraf Abdul Raheem, the president of the Dhivehi Bahuge Academy (DBA), suggested to Maldivian universities that they combine bookfairs and international conferences held in the Maldives.

He made the suggestion at the opening of the Islamic University of Maldives (IUM)’s Iqra Hybrid Bookfair on Wednesday.

Addressing the gathering, Ashraf noted that the country’s two national universities, the IUM and the Maldives National University (MNU), both hold international conferences. The MNU holds the Theveli International Research Conference, while the IUM holds the International Conference on Intellectual Advancement (ICIA).

Ashraf believes that holding a bookfair in conjunction with these international conferences will enliven the conferences.

“I wonder how enriched these conferences will be if a bookfair is held conjointly. Therefore, if these universities were to hold these, either together or separately, and have books authored by the international participants… It would certainly attract international authors,” he said.

Ashraf believes this holds potential.

Ashraf said that bookfairs serve two key purposes; providing a platform for businesses involved in bookselling, and to spread knowledge.

“I wonder, if we don’t want this to be a place of ignorance, then we need to spread knowledge and education,” he said.

Ashraf said that interest in book reading is low in the Maldives. He opinioned that it might be because of how children are brought up, or because students do not have time to enjoy leisure book reading after reading text books for exams.