Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, in partnership with Unicef, donated 40 mobile libraries to all KZN districts in Durban on Monday.
This included laptops, books and library trolleys. The handover was done during the Mandela Remembrance Celebration at the Teacher Training Centre in Durban.
This event was part of department’s Reading Strategy 2020-2025, as well as a response to the latest findings on the inability of Grade 4 pupils, the majority of whom are boys, to read for meaning and comprehension.
The head of the KZN Education Department, Nkosinathi Ngcobo, addressed 100 boy pupils on becoming future leaders through reading and literacy. Ngcobo said reading is the foundation of everything and enables young children to make informed decisions.
“The programme was initially about celebrating Mandela Month by talking to young boys under the theme of how important reading is. It is also part of our strategy where we promote reading and its importance in all school classes.
“There must be a period which will be dedicated to studying only. Reading creates critical thinkers and problem solvers,” said Ngcobo.
Ngcobo said that through this strategy they are aiming to improve academic achievements in schools. They also train and urge teachers to take reading seriously, regardless of the subject they are teaching.
Ngcobo also emphasised that this is a great initiative, especially after the recent statistics revealed that most pupils in Grade 4 can’t read and write for meaning and comprehension.
“We took those statistics seriously, although we know that we are competing with most advanced countries.
“We are not discouraged by the recent statistics since we are competing with the countries who have all the resources. Hence why we challenge ourselves to do well globally,’’ said Ngcobo.
The districts that received two mobile libraries each were Pinetown, King Cetshwayo, uThukela, Amajuba, Harry Gwala, Ilembe, Ugu, uMzinyathi, uMlazi and uMgungundlovu.
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