In the lead up to the National Reading Coalition (NRC) Launch, the NECT joined reading partner, Nal’ibali in the quest to read aloud and reach 1.5 million children on World Read Aloud Day (WRAD) commemorated on 1 February.

WRAD is a concept developed by Lit World, which calls for global attention to the importance of reading aloud, sharing stories, and the idea of literacy as a human right by bringing communities together across the world to read aloud and change the world.

The NECT team visited Mahlasedi Masana Primary School in Mamelodi to participate in the initiative and read aloud to 275 Grade 3 learners.

The NECT team read aloud ‘Where are you’ by Ann Walton, a story supplied by Nal’ibali in all official languages, and gave out posters with tips and benefits of reading aloud to reinforce the significance of the occasion. In addition, the learners were provided with age appropriate books to further promote a reading culture.

Reading aloud is said to be able to improve children’s imagination and attention span, helps develop stronger vocabulary, creates a bond between parent and child and allows them to experience reading as a fulfilling activity. As one of the game changers in educational outcome improvement, the NECT saw fit to participate in this learner development exercise and demonstrate that we believe that reading matters.

Nal’íbali successfully exceeded the set goal to reach 1.5million children by reading aloud to 1 559 730 children. This emphasizes that concerted collaboration among stakeholders goes a long a way in tackling the national reading challenge.