Library Literacy Program
High quality early childhood education has the greatest positive effect on children especially those at risk due to their circumstances. A child’s education is very important because the effect of a poor start can have a demoralizing tenure on the child’s mind which is highly vulnerable. It has been discussed overtime that the poor reading culture in Nigeria has led to the slow pace of social development of its citizens.
Since inception the Foundation has been known for improving literacy in Nigeria especially in the Federal Capital Territory as four out of the six area councils have benefitted from the program and twenty-seven out of forty one libraries.
AfriGrowth seeks to address the growing decline in the reading culture through the Library Literacy Programme. The programme employs a ‘catch them young’ approach that invests in the physical and human resources for literacy development of children. The program is designed to address some of the underlying causes of poor reading culture and literacy amongst primary school age children through:
1) Providing a user-friendly space where pupils would feel comfortable enough to read;
2) Making the library the most attractive space in the school, as a way of attracting their interest in reading.
3) Improving pupils’ access to a wide range of reading books and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials within and outside their ‘normal’ classroom activities;
4) Conducting reading activities in their various classes by trained English teachers and volunteers as the Library space may not accommodate all pupils of a class at the same time. In some schools there are a hundred children per classroom.
5) Adherence to the Library time is based on the school’s curriculum as instructed by the Ministry of Education.
6) Improving reading skills and literacy of pupils through singular and interactive group sessions and cross-learning platforms focused on stimulatory reading activities was also achieved.
