A local learner recently won R25 000 for her school library in the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) 2022 school library competition, entitled “Letter to my Library”.
The competition was held in celebration of International School Library Month, which takes place annually in October, in partnership with the WCED’s Education Library and Information Services.
With 429 entries, the department was delighted to announce that six schools each won their schools R25 000 to spend on library resources.
Siphokuhle Mvumbi, a learner from Louwville High School in Louwville won in the Xhosa category. The school said it was very happy and proud of Siphokuhle’s win. Her principal, Emile Petrus, described her as a great learner and good example to other learners. The school thanked the WCED for the opportunity.
The 2022 competition took the form of a letter writing competition, and learners were invited to write a letter to their library answering the following questions:. Why is a school library so important to you?. What can you use it for?. What are your favourite books to read in a library?. How would R25 000 for library resources help your school?
Western Cape Minister of Education David Maynier said the department thanks all the learners who took the time to write letters.
“Especially the teachers who encouraged their classes to participate and collated the entries for us,” he said. “We look forward to seeing how these schools will use the new library resources to improve their learners’ reading skills and share the joy of reading with our children.”
