Teacher’s book club boosts reading culture

Ogilgei Secondary School Teacher Gatundu Macharia during a reading session with some of his students. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

Lack of self-esteem and poor communication skills among learners inspired teacher Gatundu Macharia, to establish a book club.

Macharia, a teacher at Ogilgei Secondary School in Rongai Sub-county, Nakuru County, says students could hardly socialise with their peers, neither could they express themselves in class, and this adversely affected their academic performance.

In the book club, the English/Literature teacher buys literature material, ranging from novels, set books to text books, then distributes them to students in remote villages of the sub-county.

Macharia, 31, established the club in 2009 after completing his Bachelor’s degree studies at Kenyatta University. He says the initiative has improved performance in science subjects.

“I came across a number of bright students who performed dismally in academics simply because they could not comprehend the literature. This inspired me to come up with the club to help boost their reading culture,” he says.

Macharia selects the beneficiaries of his club by interacting with teachers from various schools and analysing the students’ performance in English.

After selection, beneficiaries are clustered in groups according to their ability for easier monitoring and evaluation.

Learners are expected to choose books of their interest collectively, and this encourages them to explore new genres outside what is studied in the classroom.

Each of the learners writes their own stories that enables Macharia to understand their areas of strength and weakness.

“Every learner writes their own stories that informs the decision on their areas of need; for example in grammar and paragraphing,” he says.

“They also write stories on issues that affect their livelihoods, which enables them to display their envisioned characters and content.”

In his school, Macharia holds reading sessions with students during tea break, lunch time and after the day’s lessons.

“A number of learners are inspired into reading by seeing me put aside everything else to focus on reading. I also share my thoughts on books by doing reviews,” he says.

He says the initiative has not only improved students’ academic performance, but also boosted their confidence.

Caren Opari, a student, says her comprehension of languages and other subjects has improved since joining the book club.

Opari, would scored D+ in Form One and Two, but is now recording C as she works towards attaining a grade of B and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam.

“Reading has enabled me to learn grammar and vocabularies that I apply in languages. I am also able to understand how to answer questions, for example, what I am expected to do if asked to illustrate,” she says.

Mary Akwom, a Form Four student, is also optimistic in recording better results in her final exam, thanks to her improved performance after joining the club.

“I always saw the teacher carry a book all the time, and would ask myself, what if I did the same. This inspired me and I no longer have free time to make noise in the classroom,” says Akwom.

It is through reading that the student came across Blossom of the Savana at Form Two, a novel that would later be approved as a set book. She is now ahead of her class in analysing the book.

“I take a lead in literature classes because I have internalised the content of the set book,” she says.

Ruth Nekesa is another student who has encouraged more learners to read, having developed interest at Standard Three. Nekesa says reading also helps learners plan their time well, for instance, they would complete their assignments on time, just to create time for reading.