The national reading campaign Nal’ibali has been recognised as a top education innovator by the African Union.Nal’ibali, took third place last week in Dakar, Senegal at the African Union’s Innovation in Education awards, beating six other emerging innovators from across the continent.
The campaign received the recognition in large part for its bilingual reading-for-fun supplement, which is produced by Project for Research of Alternative Education in South Africa (Praesa) and printed biweekly in several of Tiso Blackstar’s newspapers: Daily Dispatch, Herald and Sunday World.
It is donated and delivered to reading clubs, schools, libraries, and community organisations across South Africa, with the support of its publisher and the SA Post Office. Since 2012, 37.3 million have been distributed.
The head of research and innovation at Nal’ibali, Katie Huston, said the organisation was honoured.
“We assume innovation means new technology, but the supplement shows that something really ‘low-tech’ can have a huge impact when it is built on sound research; when it catalyses ground-breaking partnerships between the private sector, civil society and government; and when it meets people where they are.”
Each 16-page edition of Nal’ibali’s newspaper supplement has a range of exciting and accessible literacy resources designed to get children to fall in love with reading.
This includes two to three new cut-out-and-keep story books that make children part of the process and give a sense of ownership. There are also “story active” tips that help caregivers and educators extend the experience, as well as fun literacy games and activities.
They come in eight of South Africa’s 11 national languages.
Huston said the supplement may answer one of South Africa’s biggest challenges. “How do we get quality, affordable reading material into our children’s hands? Reading is the single biggest contributor to a child’s school success, yet only 17% of South African schools have a library stocked with books, and very few homes have more than ten titles on their shelves.”..