MIE resuscitates reading culture

The executive director of the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) William Susuwele says the culture of not reading extra-curricular books among learners is one of the factors contributing to the failure of students during examinations.
Susuwele made the observation in Zomba during the presentation of non-curricular books to head teachers from 31 schools drawn from Phalombe, Thyolo, Zomba, Mangochi, Nkhotakota, Kasungu, Dedza, Neno and Nsanje.

 
With support from the African Library Project (ALP), the institute has managed to handover 30 327 books to the schools as start-up stock for their libraries.
He said non-curricular books are significant in peoples’ lives, especially learners as they expose them to new things, new information, new ways of solving problems as well as discovering new ways to achieve things in their lives.
“When you are reading, you are actually gaining new knowledge and experience. It hastens your success towards a goal as you don’t need to repeat the same mistake others made since you focus on the right path in achieving one thing,” he said.

 
However, Susuwele appealed to Malawian publishers to develop the spirit of donating books to the country’s schools without waiting for international partners if the reading culture is to be resuscitated.
ALP country coordinator responsible for establishing school libraries, Jessy Mphunda, advised head teachers to play a pivotal role in transforming learners’ minds towards non-academic books.
“Stir the learners’ minds by unveiling to them that there is more edutainment in reading wide a range of books until we build a nation that values books as a trusted source of information,” she said.

 
Head teacher of Siyamanda Primary School from Phalombe Stoneck Amosi hailed MIE and ALP for the timely intervention.
“We will use these books as a weapon of uprooting ignorance among learners and communities that surround our schools, a development that will induce socio-economic development of the country,” he said.
MIE has pledged to assist in establishment of school libraries and provide technical expertise to interested schools in an effort to revive the reading culture in the country.