EFFORTS to increase the culture of reading among children have been heightened by a partnership between the South African Post Office (SAPO) and non-profit organisation (NPO) Nal’ibali, through the establishment of 508 dedicated collection points that can now be used by reading clubs, schools and libraries.
The exponential growth experienced by the initiative is a result of the newly formed partnership between the two organisations that saw the reading supplements now being available at 508 post office branches, as opposed to the 46 a year ago.
“By the end of last year, Nal’ibali was able to deliver 309 000 reading supplements every month through the post offices. Each copy has three stories – so that is nearly a million stories every month.
“We reached 2 279 reading clubs and about 216 000 kids. We could do this by using the branch network of the post office and everybody knows that there is a post office in almost every village,” said Nal’ibali acting managing director, Katie Huston.
The Nal’ibali project has seen children being empowered to read in their mother tongue through the use of interactive reading material, supported by illustrations, in nine of the 11 languages of South Africa.
The partnership sees Nal’ibali produce interactive and fun reading material, assembled by the children themselves, while SAPO provides a vehicle for their accessibility through its branches at no cost to the beneficiaries.
A study undertaken by Nal’ibali made an indication of the supplementary reading material providing much needed assistance in the development of reading habits among children, parents and teachers.
The study further affirms that learning to read in one’s mother tongue, early in school, makes education more engaging, meaningful and enjoyable for children.
“Language is a major factor that binds members of a community and a culture together. In a country like SA, famous for its marvellous diversity, the many languages we speak probably play a major role in keeping our varied cultures alive,” SAPO said.
– ISSUED: GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION
INFORMATION SYSTEM
