Celebrate World Read Aloud Day in February with Kingsburgh Welfare

What will the literacy levels in South Africa look like in 10 years and will the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic have affected them? In 2019, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, to assess children’s reading comprehension, placed South Africa last out of 50 countries. An alarming 78% of Grade 4 learners at that time could not read for basic meaning in any national language. “If a child at age nine remains functionally illiterate, this increases their chances of dropping out of school,” said community development practitioner and chairperson of Kingsburgh Child and Family Welfare (KCFW), Iris Canham. “Poor literacy reduces the chances that people need to lift themselves out of poverty. I am cautious to say that it alleviates poverty, as we have seen over the years in South Africa that it is far more important to empower people with skills to raise themselves up,” said Canham, who is very involved in development work in the community and has a heart for literacy. READ ALSO: Emergency response may save Amanzimtoti ECDs “This year World Read Aloud Day is celebrated on Wednesday, 3 February and we can all do our bit to raise literacy levels in the country.” The community can help KCFW raise the level of literacy. Welfare is empowering selected outreach creches which have been beneficiaries of its programmes and have the capacity to reach out to foundation learners to set up reading programme at their early childhood development centres. “We will start with one crèche this year and proceed with caution, taking into consideration the health and safety of all. We appeal to the public for donations of books for young children this February (pre-school to age nine), isiZulu and English. We ask that the books be sanitised and placed separately in a clearly marked plastic bag or box, marked reading programme. This will help minimise handling and increase the protection of our volunteers. We will run this book drive for February and deliver the books to Somelulwazi Crèche in Umgababa in March.” Donations may be dropped off on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am to noon at 2 Hall Road, Warner Beach or call Sandra Govender on 031-916-2274, or email admin@kingsburghwelfare.org.za. To assist with further developments of the reading programme, call Iris on 074-440-6085. How to celebrate Read Aloud Day: * Read a story to children at home. * Read a story virtually to family members, children’s friends and grandchildren. * Make a family book together – it is such a beautiful experience. * Record yourself reading and share it with family and friends. * Read to children everyday. There are also great benefits to reading to an unborn baby.  

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