At the recent Read to Lead Campaign roadshow, which was held in Apel, Sekhukhune Education District in the Limpopo Province, parents were urged to prioritise reading time with their families as reading is one of the ways children can become informed citizens.

The Read to Lead roadshows are a means of ensuring that Minister Motshekga’s message on the importance of motivating children to make reading a lifestyle choice, reaches all corners of South Africa. If parents read to children on a daily basis, children will associate reading and books with closeness, caring and happiness. They develop a love for books that is likely to last throughout their lives and will provide them with a head start once they commence school.

Addressing parents at the roadshow, Mr Enoch Rabotapi, Acting Chief Director for Education Human Resource Development at the DBE, said “Children do as they see, not as they are told. If there is no reading culture at home it is unlikely that those children will possess a love of reading. If they see us as parents reading, they will follow our example”. He also encouraged parents to buy their children books as gifts instead of fancy gadgets with no educational value.

Officials from the Limpopo Department of Education were also in attendance, with a representative saying, “How many of us ensure that our children are able to read with understanding? It is important that you discuss what was read with your child to confirm that they actually understood what they were reading”.

The DBE delivered a variety of books to the community to use as a foundation to start their own library. The community was encouraged to donate more books, new or used, so as to grow their library collection.

For more tips on how to get children to read, visit:

https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/Read2Lead/Read2LeadParents.aspx