AN EDUCATION chief has highlighted the work being carried out in Bradford to encourage children to read after new research found that youngsters in Yorkshire are not getting as much enjoyment out of reading and writing as those in other parts of the country.

A study by the National Literacy Trust found that the county was below the national average in terms of children who enjoy reading and writing.

The region was also behind in the amount of children who write something daily which was not for school.

The research revealed that 48.2 per cent of children in Yorkshire and the Humber enjoy writing, compared with 49.3 per cent nationally. A total of 52.5 per cent enjoy reading, lower than the 54.5 per cent who do so nationally.

Almost a quarter (24.1 per cent) of children in the region write something every day that is not for school. The number is 27.2 per cent nationally.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for education, skills and culture, said: "In Bradford we recognise reading and writing regularly as a really important part of increasing children's attainment levels in school.

"As a result there are a number of initiatives running in the city which support reading. The National Literacy Trust has its own programme in Bradford as does the Imagination Library. We're the home of the Ilkley and Bradford Literature Festivals and of course Bradford Libraries run the hugely successful Bookstart programme.

"There's still more to do though which is why we're encouraging reading volunteers in schools as part of our new Bradford Education Covenant."

The report, Children’s and Young People’s Writing in 2014, sets out the findings of the National Literacy Trust’s fifth annual survey of more than 32,000 eight to and 18-year-olds. It found that while children’s enjoyment of writing has started to increase slowly over the past three years, they still enjoy writing less than reading.

The percentage of children and young people who write daily outside class has remained relatively stable over the past five years, with more than a quarter saying that they write something outside class daily. The number of children reading daily outside class rose from 32.2 per cent in 2013 to 41.4 per cent in 2014.

The study also showed a large gender gap, with 40.4 per cent of boys enjoying writing, compared to 57.4 per cent of girls.

The research also found that a large percentage of children and young people do not connect good writing with employability. The value that businesses place on recruiting employees with good literacy skills is being highlighted today at a National Literacy Trust, KPMG and Reform event at the Conservative Party Conference.

National Literacy Trust director Jonathan Douglas said: "Our research highlights that more must be done to promote writing among children and young people, particularly boys. Although writing enjoyment and frequency is slowly rising, our survey shows that children clearly prefer reading."