BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The trio of Peace Alabi, Zainab El-Alan and Michael Ayuba thrilled the Abuja audience at the World Read Aloud Day celebration recently, even as the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Hamid Bobbayi, charged parents to return to reading with sonorous voice from story books to their children mostly at bedtime in order to rekindle love for reading in them.
Bobbayi, represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary, Technical, Professor Bala Zakari, gave the charge at the world read aloud day celebration where the primary school pupils from selected schools entertained the audience with mature reading skills.
The programme was sponsored by the Universal Basic Education Commission in conjunction with Universal Learning Solutions Initiative.
He regretted that parents have relegated the habit of reading stories from books to their children at bedtime and added that it has immensely contributed to the decline of reading interest in children.
“In this part of the world, not many of the children enjoyed the experience of parents reading with sonorous voices from story books to them mostly at bedtime. Those with such experiences will recall the imaginations, comfort and desire for more.”
The ES noted that these are the reasons for celebrating the world read aloud day.
He added that the day is also aimed at bringing literacy to the world at large.
“This is coming from the background that thousands of men, women and children struggle to or are unable to read and write, hence, the LitWorld’s mission to strengthen Kids and communities through the power of stories to overcome the problem.
“This day 2nd February, is set aside for the purpose of making everyone in the world literate; it is aimed at motivating children, teens, and adults to celebrate the power of words. The celebration is a global movement geared towards ensuring the right to read and write for everybody.”
Bobbayi further noted that the benefits of the world read aloud day cannot be overemphasized. He added that the day is also aimed at expanding children interest in books, vocabularies, comprehension, grammar, and attention which could be seen as a free vaccine for literacy.
In her welcome address, the director, academic services, Roseline Medubi, said LitWorld founded World Read Aloud Day in 2010 to celebrate the power of reading aloud to create community and amplify new stories, and to advocate for literacy as a foundational human right.
“This programme has since then evolved into a global movement of millions of readers, writers and listeners like you coming together to honour the joy and power of reading and sharing stories.”
The country director, USL, Patrick Uzu, stated that as an organization whose primary focus is to provide innovative literacy solutions, Universal Learning Solutions (ULS) has effectively collaborated with all of Nigeria’s 36 State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) to deliver Jolly Phonics training.
In total, 161,379 public school teachers and 6,107 government officials have now received training reaching 13.2 million pupils.
“The Jolly Phonics methodology is widely recognized as being the most effective tool to enable learners to develop the skills required to read and write confidently in the English language.
To help compliment the Jolly Phonics and build children’s comprehension skills, universal learning solutions has developed the Reach for the Star Readers range of affordable, high-quality books.
“These are simple decodable reading books formulated to support budding learners.These simple stories, have been published and distributed to schools across Nigeria are supported by free interactive apps-Jolly Phonics Lessons App and the Reach for the Stars ReadersApp-to support learning beyond the classroom.
“On the occasion of World Read Aloud Day, we encourage parents, teachers and guardians to take advantage of these innovations, and build a more peaceful, progressive and productive society,” he said.
