Reading campaign third in AU awards
SOUTH AFRICA’S reading-for-enjoyment campaign, Nal’ibali, came third at the AU’s Innovation in Education Prize.
The campaign rose ahead of six other emerging innovators from across the continent at the weekend.
Nal’ibali received this recognition in large part for its bilingual reading-for-enjoyment supplement.
The supplement is produced by Project for the Research of Alternative Education in SA (Praesa), printed bi-weekly in various newspapers.
It is donated and delivered directly to reading clubs, schools, libraries and community organisations in the Nal’ibali network with the support of its publisher and the South African Post Office. Since 2012, 37.3 million supplements have been distributed.
Nal’ibali head of research and innovation, Katie Huston, said: “We often assume innovation has to mean new technology, but the supplement shows that something really ‘lo-tech’ can have a huge impact when it is built on sound research; when it catalyses ground-breaking partnerships between the private sector, civil society and government; and when it meets people where they are.”
Managing director of Nal’ibali Jade Jacobsohn said: “When schools do manage to get books, they often keep them for teachers to read in the classroom only. They’re simply too precious to risk getting damaged by children.”
Each 16-page edition of Nal’ibali’s has a range of exciting and accessible literacy resources designed to get children to fall in love with reading.
This includes two to three new cut-out-and-keep story books. The supplements come in eight of South Africa’s 11 national languages, meaning inclusivity is central to its design.
For more information about accessing Nal’ibali’s supplements, or the power of reading and storytelling, visit www.nalibali.org and www.nalibali. mobi. IF THE world continues to warm at its current rate, global temperatures will rise by 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052, said a report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change yesterday.
It would have catastrophic effects on water scarcity and global food production, and almost entirely wipe out global coral reef systems.
Without immediate global cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, average temperatures in Africa would rise more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. By that time, heat extremes could affect 15% of sub-Saharan Africa’s land in the hot season, causing deaths and threatening crops.
The report is the result of the work of 91 lead authors and review editors from 40 countries including South Africa, and the inputs of 133 contributing authors.
Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said climate change demanded global solutions.
“Climate change respects no borders – our actions must transcend all frontiers. Equity, inclusivity and co-operation must underpin our collective response to meet the 1.5-degree target,” he said.
The report found that pledges governments