By Khanyisa Khenese
The Rhodes University Education Department, in collaboration with PUKU Children’s Literature Foundation, held a book reading and reviewing workshop for Bachelor of Education third-year Foundation Phase students at the department’s science lab last weekend, 15 – 16 March. The workshop sought to prepare and expose students to children’s literature as they are set to embark on teaching practice in term 3.
In attendance, the workshop had the founder and executive director of PUKU, Elinor Sisulu; the Education advisor of PUKU Children’s Literature Foundation, Dr Anna Nkomo; head of the Department of Early Childhood Education, Associate Professor Ingrid Schudel; volunteer education and multimedia edutainment specialist, Nomvuyo Mzamane and award-winning poet Akhona Blodl’ Ingqaka Mafani. The popular poet opened the programme with an enthralling performance.
The two-day workshop affirmed the significance of reading in South Africa, raising a number of multifaceted crises in the reading and education system, such as 80% of children who do not know how to read and write in different languages, high school learners dropping out; grade R’s not having enough words in any language and children not having the prerequisite 3000 words required in order to enter schools.
“As PUKU is working with children’s literature, we are trying to attend to these many children’s problems,” said Mzamane. She added: “We want the recreation of reading; we want a child to choose a book as often as possible over an app or television.”
Dr Nkomo said numerical figures show that teachers do not have the basic reading competence needed to teach reading. Hence they have the workshop, to also digitally upskill the students as they are going to write reviews to be published online.
“The statistics that are out there show that our teachers are not readers and are not familiar with children’s literature that is out there, so our main idea is to expose students to children’s literature and digitally upskill them.”
Mzamane also emphasized that the world is facing a crisis where children don’t have the advantage of reading books that are in the languages they speak at home.
However, Sisulu told Grocott’s Mail that they are in the process of making catalogues of 100 recommended books in all languages and in the process, some of the books should be put into braille for children who are blind.
“There are not many African languages in Braille and not many for young children so we advocate that should happen,” she said.
She added that they also decided to include disability mainstream, where they are going to have a disabled person to ensure they have books for disabled children.
Musa Ncwadi, a Rhodes University student currently studying towards a Bachelor of Education, said the workshop helped her to know which appropriate books to teach children, and she learned that as a teacher, she can write her own stories that she can utilise in the classroom to assist children to be able to read, read with understanding as well read for pleasure.
Third year Education student Olwam Bedeni, told Grocott’s Mail that the workshop was an amazing opportunity for them as future educators to explore their options in the education field, be good parents and aunts as they will be able to apply what they learned to their families and schools.
