Children from across the country should always be helped to improve their reading skills at an early stage, and this will be key in fostering quality education in the country. The observation was made on Wednesday, February 5, at Ecole Primaire Sozi from Burera District by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), Samuel Mulindwa during the launch of a year-long national reading campaign. The campaign is running under the theme ‘Make Time for Reading!’ The objective of the campaign which will run through December according to officials is to prioritize reading at school, at home and in the community at large. “The ability to read as well as enforcing reading culture is a strong foundation of quality education that we always strive to build and this can’t be attained if children do not learn to read at an early stage,” he noted. Mulindwa went on to challenge parents, guardians, teachers and school administrators among other actors to find for children at least 15 minutes a day to inculcate in them a reading culture. “Fifteen minutes are normally not enough, however, if the minutes are regularly offered to children, they will end up loving to read,” he said. He advised parents who might be illiterate to join adult literacy clubs that the government has initiated in every part of the country for them to play their part in their childrens learning process, stressing that one becomes literate enough within six months. The USAID Mission Director in Rwanda, Leslie Marbury reiterated the importance of learning to read vis-à-vis the country’s various ambitions. “Children who read always perform well and have a better chance of getting jobs and helping Rwanda to grow. So making time to read benefit children and the country,” she noted. Marbury told journalists that USAID invested $85 million in the literacy campaign which she said will help children acquire confidence in reading. Parents from Burera District who spoke to The New Times noted that helping their children to read while at home has started yielding positive fruits notably in childrens performances in class. “I started assisting my boy to read in the last two years when he was in Primary Two and since his performance has significantly improved; he used to obtain 60 percent in exams and he now scores more than 75 per cent, he can now also demonstrate stellar English language knowledge thanks to the habit of reading,” noted Alex Kagame, the father of four from Kagogo Sector.
