Conceptualised by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MOEAC), through the Directorate Namibia Library and Archives Services (NLAS), the reading campaign aims to engage the entire country in fostering a reading culture for personal advancement and national development, especially in primary schools.
“Bank Windhoek's contribution, will help us develop and succeed in promoting and nurturing a reading culture in our young school children. This is the beginning of a sustainable partnership in education and we appreciate Bank Windhoek for setting the tone," said the National Reading Coordinator, Mazinza Ndala.
All primary school children, from Pre-Primary to grade seven, are expected to participate in the One Book, One Child reading campaign. The participants will be taught and evaluated based on parameters such as the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) III report, MOEAC National Standards test results and the Education Library Services Annual School library report questionnaires.
For the project to achieve its objectives, a variety of fiction and non-fiction books still need to be acquired for learners to have an extensive selection of books which they can read for leisure as well as enhance their reading skills. The collection will be in all local Namibian languages.
Bank Windhoek's Co-ordinator of Sponsorships and Events, Suzette January said: “Problem solving is one of the many benefits of having a reading culture. Reading contributes to national literacy which empowers our communities to educate themselves and those around them with information. Information which gives them the ability to make informed decisions. Education and literacy is one of the bank's core social investment strategies and as a result, we support this initiative as a way to add value in the communities where we operate in."
The MOEAC introduced the reading period to create a platform where learners can read books of their interest. “We hope that learners will become adequate readers, acquire a large vocabulary, develop the ability to understand and use complex grammatical constructions. Through this campaign, learners will begin to make effective use of their school and community libraries," concluded Ndala.
