How to Ignite Reading Excitement in Children
By Irene Gaitirira
Published March 30, 2018
What would you do if after after four years of primary school 98% of children in your area cannot read a simple sentence in your official language or their first tongue?
Yes, you’d do something to solve the problem as literacy is crucial in socio-political and economic transformation of societies.
Book Aid International of Britain says it is donating beautiful children’s books full of colourful pictures to help teachers ignite young readers’ excitement about reading and phonics books to help children begin to learn to read.
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Book Aid International, an international book donation and library development charity, says it is donating 7 000 books to support AfriKids and the Sabre Trust’s work of raising literacy standards for 4 – 8-year-olds in some of Ghana’s most vulnerable communities.
While AfriKids champions child rights in northern Ghana, Sabre Trust works in southern Ghana to ‘build a brighter future for marginalized and disadvantaged children aged 4-5 years old’.
“These books,” the British charity says, “will be an important resource for teachers, helping them enrich their classrooms and encourage young children to read.”
Book Aid International says studies suggest that just 2% of children can read a simple sentence in English or their mother tongue after 4 years of primary school in the regions of Ghana where AfriKids and Sabre Trust work.
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Consequently, the three charities are joining forces to support Afrikids’ ‘Foundations for Life’ programme, which aims to improve early literacy in 115 schools by providing training for Kindergarten teachers and form reading clubs in schools. The charities will also implement Sabre’s ‘Transformational Teacher Training’ programme which trains new and existing teachers in active and play-based learning for kindergarten.
“Our early years work is transforming the first experience children have of school in very poor communities,” Charlie Hay, Chief Operating Officer of AfriKids, says. “It’s out with passive teaching, boring lessons and the cane, and in with exciting and fun ways to learn that really work and will help children go further in their studies. We’re delighted to be teaming up with Book Aid to bring these amazing books to children who might never have seen one before, and help them develop a real love of reading and learning.”
Dominic Bond, Sabre Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, says, “A major part of the training that the teachers receive revolves around story sharing and early reading skills, to build the foundations from which children can develop their literacy skills in primary school. Teachers are taught about the importance of books in helping to develop children’s language, literacy and imaginative skills. The books donated by Book Aid International will equip literacy centres in over 300 kindergarten classrooms, allowing children free access to storybooks and providing additional titles for teachers to use in their story sharing sessions.”
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“We’re delighted to be a part of helping AfriKids and the Sabre Trust increase early literacy in Ghana,” says Alison Tweed, Chief Executive Ofrficer of Book Aid International. “We hope that the books we provide will help these children develop a love of reading which will stay with them throughout their lives, helping them succeed in education and enjoy a lifetime of reading.”
Book Aid International, that says it ‘works with an extensive network of libraries, schools, hospitals, NGOs and other partners to ensure that the books’ it sends reach as many people as possible, estimates that the books it provides reach 24 million people every year.
