In celebration of World Read Aloud (WRAD) Day on 1 February 2023, a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign calls on South Africans to join in on the day and read aloud to the children in their lives.
“For some, it will be the first, important step to habitual reading while for others it will be a continuation of their reading journey. For WRAD 2023, Nal’ibali aims to reach its goal of reading aloud to 3 million children.
Young children who are read to in languages they understand, perform better in school, develop better memories, stronger vocabularies and comprehension skills,” according to Nal’ibali, the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign.
The Head of Communications and Content at Nal’ibali, Ben Rycroft, said this year’s collaborative campaign with the Department of Basic Education, the National Education Collaboration Trust, and other stakeholders will focus on encouraging families to pledge to read aloud.
“There are so many benefits to reading aloud to young children – and babies – and reading a story aloud together,” says Rycroft.
“Most importantly, parents and caregivers need to understand the connection between reading and storytelling and a child’s future success. Young children who are read to in languages they understand, perform better in school, develop better memories, stronger vocabularies and comprehension skills.”
The story written by children’s author and children’s literacy advocate Tumisang Shongwe titled Every day’s a story is available in South Africa’s official languages at www.nalibali.org/wrad2023 .
Compiled by Gypseenia Lion
