This article reports a study undertaken in August 2016 to examine the effects of poor reading culture among the Distance Education students at Kwame Nkrumah University in Zambia. Like in many other universities, students under Distance Education Programme at this institution mainly learn through modules as their indispensible tool, though sometimes there has been moments, such as during Residential Schools when contiguous learning ( face-to-face) has taken place. Because of this, this article regards one's ability to read as a crucial requirement; just like one's comprehension skills are of paramount importance if one is to make it in this module-driven mode of learning. My central contention in this article, therefore, is that a sound reading culture is an essential prerequisite in any student involved in a form of learning that makes use of modules.
In examining the culture of reading among students, the article has assessed the claim that there has been deterioration in the reading habits among students of the current generation which has impacted negatively on their academic performance. The causes of poor-reading culture among Kwame Nkrumah University students have been analysed and the results from this study reveal the effects of students' poor reading background on academic performance. Such common effects as students' indecent behaviour and use of corruption have been discussed, where, for instance, knowing too well that they have not read the modules, and with their desperation to pass their coursework and exams, some students resort to such indecent habits as offering themselves to their lecturers for sex in exchange for marks, while others opt for the corrupt acts of buying marks from lecturers and hiring people to write their assignments and research projects on their behalf. The article concludes with a suggestion that a fair consideration be given to the effects of poor reading culture whenever addressing the common challenges of students involving themselves in indecent and corrupt ways of obtaining academic favour from lecturers, a vice that seems to have marred many institutions of higher learning in Zambia today.