In promoting literacy at disadvantaged primary schools, Ford South Africa as part of its long-standing partnership with Rally to Read, has donated hundreds of books to Nomathamsanqa Primary School in Khayamnandi, Despatch.
Phindiwe Shode, Foundation Phase Departmental Head at Nomathamsanqa Primary School, said the school was fortunate to be selected as one of four primary schools in Nelson Mandela Bay to benefit from the literacy campaign.
“We welcomed the literacy campaign with both hands, as we knew this will benefit the future of our learners,” said Shode. “These books are for learners from Grade one to Grade three and hopefully next year learners from Grade four to seven will also be able to benefit from the campaign. We create reading corners in classrooms for reading experiences, but we also have a controlled way of allowing learners to borrow books to read at home. These books must be taken good care of and returned. We are very strict with the books as the programme is monitored.”
According to her, more and more learners are showing their enthusiasm to read for pleasure, thanks to this literacy campaign. According to Sithiwe Mcwabeni, also a Foundation Phase Departmental Head at Nomathamsanqa, “Reading is not part of our culture. For many of our learners, there is nobody at home who can assist them with reading, therefore with this campaign, we want to instil reading to become part of our culture.
“If a learner can read, it is easier for such a learner to write. So it all starts with reading, then writing and learning will follow,” said Mcwabeni.
According to Shode, reading resources and especially isiXhosa books, were very limited at school. One of the famous quotes of Dr Seuss is: “The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is exactly what literacy campaigns like Rally to Read have in mind and hopefully the learners of Nomathamsanqa will grab the opportunity “to learn to know more things”.
