Reading should be a culture schools cultivate
When you don’t read you won’t be informed and without information young people are left in the dark.
Today, it is less likely to find a library in township schools and let alone a functioning one.
ALSO READ: Bringing digital Literacy to Soweto schools
However, on October 20, Emshukantambo Secondary School launched a book club to emphasise the significance of reading in a black child’s life.
The aim of the launch was to introduce and welcome learners into the world of reading. In order to do this, the school entered into a partnership with Read organisation which focuses on literacy to empower teachers and help learners to read.
Lindiwe Mthembu from Read said, “Our focus is on literacy to empower educators and help learners to read.
“There are also trainers who visit schools to educate teachers with regards to inculcate the learners to enjoy reading, not just for academics but reading for fun as well.”
Reading should be a culture in which local schools cultivate. It allows the learners to make meaning of the things around them.
It is important for learners to learn how to read in the very early stages of their school life. This will therefore help them to be proficient with the language and not to struggle with their school work.
ALSO READ: Helping your child cope with changing schools mid-year
Through reading you learn how to make sense of the world around; you begin to inhabit multiple ways of solving problems because there is no one way of doing something.
“We live in a world where everything you know should be backed up by sources and quotes.
Reading was a culture to me and it shaped me for the future,” said Phila Dlamini a former student and a debate team member at Emshukantambo.
You have to read if you want to be prepared for the future, there’s a bigger world out there and as much as it is waiting, you need to be ready for it.
When you don’t read you won’t be informed and without information young people are left in the dark.
The best and simple way to start reading will be becoming a catholic reader, reading everything and anything at your disposal. Begin with primary level books as well as comic books because they will intrigue you with visuals.
ALSO READ: Digitising learning in Soweto schools
Formers teacher, Miss Sithole advised learners that, “If you don’t read as a young girl, you turn to gossiping about your peers because you have nothing else to do.
One thing you should know is that reading broadens the mind and the company of enlightened people brings comfort.”
One of the learners that joined the book club said reading helps improve her vocabulary and becomes her escape from the real world. This proves that reading is dimensional.
“Thanks to Read, our learners want to read about almost everything and that’s how much this book club has helped us.
“Even those who were shy are starting to get out of their shells,” Pule Hlahane, vice principal of Emshukantambo concluded.
Follow Us Here:
Catch the latest news by visiting our other platforms:
