Rwanda: New Special Books for Children soon available in all schools
Nyamata (August 1, 2018) – Rwanda Education Board (REB) and USAID Soma Umenye have concluded a workshop to validate 24 stories that will be distributed to primary one (P1) classes in all government and government-aided schools in Rwanda this year.
These children books have been specially designed so that children are able to experience the joy to reading independently, according to a joint Press release sent to this website
It further added that “This opportunity is possible because the stories are carefully sequenced so that the words in the stories use only the letters that a child already knows. “
“We strongly believe that these books will make reading a fun activity for students in P1. They are unique in the sense that each early reading story is focused on the letters children have just learned. As children progress in learning more letters, the stories expand to include these additional letters. This way, the children easily become fluent in reading Kinyarwanda and develop the culture of reading from the very young age. In so-doing a new generation of Rwandan readers is created!” Said Dr. Irenee Ndayambaje, Director General at REB.
Once a child knows the letters a,e,i,o,u and r, they can already read books with words like “ararira, urira, ararora…”!
In addition to these early reading stories, REB, in partnership with USAID Soma Umenye, has developed a Kinyarwanda textbook, teacher guide and read aloud storybook.
The use of this set of materials in every P1 classroom is essential for full implementation of the national competence-based curriculum.
With these materials, REB is providing teachers the support they need to ensure that children achieve the foundational competence of reading in Kinyarwanda.
David Rurangirwa, Deputy Director of Education/ USAID Rwanda said that they will continue to support the production of Kinyarwanda reading materials: “Together with REB, we are equipping teachers with the most effective methodology and teaching materials to ensure that children learn to read. Learning to read well in Kinyarwanda in lower primary school provides children with the competences they need to succeed in school.”
A new series of 24 readers will be provided to all Primary one (P1) students in government and government-aided schools in Rwanda, along with Kinyarwanda textbooks, teacher guides and read aloud storybooks.
