POLOKWANE – The principal of Northern Muslim School, Takura Warinda, recently came up with a literature and art initiative aimed at inculcating a culture of reading among learners.
The initiative saw learners from all grades combining literature with art to ignite some creativity among themselves.
“What happens through this initiative is that we give learners books to read and they must reproduce what they have read in the form of art. We are then able to see their comprehension of reading, manifesting into art. We want them to use art to express their understanding of literature and it is working. We truly want to enhance their love for reading and it is working,” he said.
The initiative is in response to the call made by the President, Cyril Ramaphosa who in May said that reading with comprehension is a major problem among learners, he added.
Ramaphosa was reacting to the results of the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, that show that 81% of Gr 4 learners are unable to read for meaning in any language.
“Most learners in the foundation phase can’t read for meaning, and we need to mitigate the problem. We have come up with a strategy and developed a reading policy. We will also have periods dedicated only to reading. Learners will read a variety of books for 30 minutes every day. This will not only help with reading, but increase their fluency, comprehension and vocabulary too.”
Warinda conceded that social media has had a huge impact on what learners opt to focus on. “Social media takes away most of their reading time. While we acknowledge the fast pace of technology, we also need to strike a balance. Instead of seeing learners focused on their smartphones, we want them to start reading and reduce their screen time,” stated Warinda.
