London, June 22 (ANI): Children's love of reading risks being "swept away" by new technology in the home, according to Sir Tom Stoppard, a British playwright.
He said that children are living "in a world of technology" where the "moving image" has taken over "the printed page".
Sir Tom, who wrote Jumpers, The Real Thing and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, insisted that English and the humanities were vitally important to a child's education and should not be ignored by the sciences.
The comments came ahead of a speech next week to an education charity established by the Prince of Wales.
"I am aware, as everybody has to be, that there's more competition for one's attention nowadays," The Telegraph quoted Sir Tom as saying.
"The printed word is no longer as in demand as when I was of the age of pupils or even at the age of the teachers teaching them.
"I think that's to the detriment, I just don't want the printed page to get swept away by that," Sir Tom added.
Sir Tom said children had access to a better curriculum than ever before, covering young authors and playwrights, but with increasing prioritisation of science-based subjects has grabbed the attention at higher education levels.
"I want to support the whole idea of the humanities and teaching the humanities as being something that even if it can't be quantitatively measured as other subjects it's as fundamental to all education," he said.(ANI)
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