President Uhuru Kenyatta unveils Sh5b reading programme

President Uhuru Kenyatta joins students of Ruai Primary School in a jig during the official launch of the Tusome Early Literacy programme at Ruai Primary School, Nairobi County. [PHOTO: GEORGE MWANGANGI/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: President Uhuru Kenyatta has launched a Sh5 billion programme to boost reading skills among millions of primary school children in the country.

The Tusome National Reading Programme is expected to benefit at least 5.4 million children in early primary school and will run for the next four years.

At least 22,600 schools across the country will benefit and more than 12 million books will be printed and distributed.

The programme, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) and United Kingdom, is meant to enhance reading skills of children in classes one and two.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

“The foundation we lay in early childhood is critical to the success of our education system. When children are stimulated, inspired and enabled to learn well, the nation is on sound footing,” said President Kenyatta Wednesday at Ruai Primary school in Nairobi.

The head of state added: “The quality of early encounters with learning will get Kenya off to a good start. There is a strong connection between what the toddlers and babies are doing now, and where Kenya will be in two decades to come.”

Uhuru said the programme is key to unlock the promise to develop a globally competitive workforce, and a nation of problem-solvers.

“With programmes like Tusome, the sky is the limit for our little scholars, and the future bright for our country,” he said.

The initiative builds on the results of a joint pilot programme that more than doubled the percentage of Class One and Class Two pupils able to read at national literacy benchmarks in 1,384 focus schools between 2011 and 2014.

“The materials and methodology are designed so that all children that enter the school system will first learn to read and then read to learn,” said US Ambassador Robert Godec.

UK envoy to Kenya Chris Turner said the programme will prepare the foundation for better education of millions of children across the country since it will improve reading skills as well as boost capacity of teachers to deliver quality education.

1,300 SCHOOLS

A recent report revealed that many primary school pupils, including those in Standard Eight do not know how read well and this has been partly attributed to the lack of programmes that specifically focus on reading at early levels of education.

Since 2011, USAid has partnered with the Government of Kenya to pilot a research-driven reading program for students in first and second grade classes. Learning materials have been provided to over 316,000 students, while 5,000 teachers have been trained to assume the role of instructional leaders in their schools.

Pupils who participated in the pilot programme in 1,300 primary schools across the country were two to three times better able to read than before.

According to experts in the programme, reading is a fundamental skill that lays the foundation for future learning.

Meanwhile, Uhuru has vowed that efforts will be intensified to fight the scourge of land grabbing that has affected many public facilities across the country and resulted in loss of huge parcels of lands to private developers.