Develop a reading culture, teachers told
Oct 10, 2004
Mark Schlachter, the Public Affairs Officer at the American Embassy, has appealed to primary school teachers to develop a reading culture.
By Nathan Etengu
Mark Schlachter, the Public Affairs Officer at the American Embassy, has appealed to primary school teachers to develop a reading culture.
He said that it was through their active participation in reading that the teacher would inculcate the same culture into the children they taught.
“It is upon you that the burden falls to carry this out. Your pupils will not adopt the reading culture unless you do it yourselves. If they see you with the books, they will also pick interest in reading,†Schlachter said.
He was opening a two-day community reading tent for in Busiu, Mbale district on Tuesday.
The ceremony organised by the Reading Association of Uganda (RAU) in partnership with The American Centre took place at Busiu Primary School and was attended by over 400 pupils and 20 teachers picked from 10 of the schools in the area.
Schlachter advised the pupils to read to understand and succeed in life. “You must not only learn how to speak English, but you must read to live and read to grow and understand and succeed in life,†Schlachter said.
Juliet Nabwire, the coordinator of The New Vision’s Newspapers In Education project imparted the teachers with skills on how to use the newspaper as a teaching material in the classroom. Demonstrating the use of newspapers in the classroom, Nabwire called upon the teachers to use the newspaper as a cheap and available source of reading material.
Sam Andema, RAU chairperson, said the objective of the association was to fight the high rate of illiteracy in the country. He said that a large population of Uganda did not know how to read and write.
“This denies them access to written information and has also denied them access to government policies and inhibited their participation in civil affairs,†Andema said.
He said that the high illiteracy rates had also contributed to the high incidences of poverty and low quality of life in the community.
Andema said similar functions were held in Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka Luweero, Mbarara and Arua and plans were underway to hold similar reading tents in the districts of Hoima, Fort Portal and Lira.
Ends
Mark Schlachter, the Public Affairs Officer at the American Embassy, has appealed to primary school teachers to develop a reading culture.
He said that it was through their active participation in reading that the teacher would inculcate the same culture into the children they taught.
“It is upon you that the burden falls to carry this out. Your pupils will not adopt the reading culture unless you do it yourselves. If they see you with the books, they will also pick interest in reading,†Schlachter said.
He was opening a two-day community reading tent for in Busiu, Mbale district on Tuesday.
The ceremony organised by the Reading Association of Uganda (RAU) in partnership with The American Centre took place at Busiu Primary School and was attended by over 400 pupils and 20 teachers picked from 10 of the schools in the area.
Schlachter advised the pupils to read to understand and succeed in life. “You must not only learn how to speak English, but you must read to live and read to grow and understand and succeed in life,†Schlachter said.
Juliet Nabwire, the coordinator of The New Vision’s Newspapers In Education project imparted the teachers with skills on how to use the newspaper as a teaching material in the classroom. Demonstrating the use of newspapers in the classroom, Nabwire called upon the teachers to use the newspaper as a cheap and available source of reading material.
Sam Andema, RAU chairperson, said the objective of the association was to fight the high rate of illiteracy in the country. He said that a large population of Uganda did not know how to read and write.
“This denies them access to written information and has also denied them access to government policies and inhibited their participation in civil affairs,†Andema said.
He said that the high illiteracy rates had also contributed to the high incidences of poverty and low quality of life in the community.
Andema said similar functions were held in Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka Luweero, Mbarara and Arua and plans were underway to hold similar reading tents in the districts of Hoima, Fort Portal and Lira.
Ends