Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Adv. Ngoako Ramatlhodi will tomorrow, Thursday, 21 July hand-over Children’s Library and a Playground to the community of Wedela Township in Merafong Municipality as part of government wide-programme to encourage children to embrace reading at young age.
The facilities, situated at the Merafong Home Based Care Centre in the township, will afford primary school going children between the ages of 5 and 15 years old to practice reading and receive stimulation from the play area which is a crucial part of child development.
In responding to this year’s Nelson Mandela Month theme that encourages focus on “Education and Literacy, Shelter, Environment and food Security”, Minister Ramatlhodi will also assist with planting of seedlings at the vegetable garden to contribute to food security to the centre that provides meals after school to children from needy families.
The Minister will later have an interaction with primary school children to encourage them to create a habit of reading for pleasure to assist them develop literacy skills and future academic achievements. The event form part of his outreach programme in which government and communities meet in different platforms to converse on access to developmental programs that can improve the lives of local people.
“It has been proven that children who learn to read at young age develop better academically as reading provide them with self-generated learning opportunities and have higher vocabulary rates than children of the same age who are not exposed to reading. As parents we need to instill the culture of reading to our children by exposing them to books well before they can read so they can learn the very basics of handling books, holding conversations about pictures, and learning how to read.” said the Minister.
Members of the media are invited to the event as follows:
Date: Thursday, 21 July 2016
Time: 10h00
Venue: Merafong Home Based Care Centre, Wedela Township.
Enquiries:
Adv Mahlodi Muofhe
Cell: 082 972 0141
Email: Mahlodi.muofhe@dpsa.gov.za
