Advocacy for Literacy: Amplifying the Importance of Reading
Literacy is a game-changer for education. Advocating for literacy is about promoting reading skills as much as it is about unlocking opportunities, fostering understanding, and fueling progress. This article aims to highlight the significance of reading, not just as a skill but as a key that opens doors to a brighter future for individuals and entire communities.
The importance of reading cannot be overstated as reading entails more than just the ability to recognize words. Reading is a journey of discovery, a passport to diverse worlds, and a tool for personal and societal growth.
Reading introduces countless benefits such as increased knowledge, improved critical thinking, and a broader perspective that enriches lives and strengthens society.
Hence, we need to promote initiatives that promote the culture of reading. Promoting literacy involves actively supporting and participating in initiatives that encourage reading.
Such initiatives could include volunteering at local libraries, supporting book drives, or engaging in community reading programs — these efforts contribute to creating a culture where reading is not just encouraged but celebrated. Reading would achieve the paramount status it deserves.
As mentioned in other articles, one of the problems of teaching in a public school in Lagos, Nigeria is that the school is usually the sole educational source for the students. Students usually have no books or other forms of media at home. This implies total reliance on the classroom activities for learning and stands as a hurdle to literacy.
There lies another notable hurdle in Nigeria — the scarcity of accessible books.
Few parents can afford to purchase books, public libraries are few, and many schools lack satisfactory library resources. In advocating for literacy, it becomes imperative to address these gaps, promoting initiatives that provide broader access to books, whether through building more libraries, physical/digital reading spaces, and gifting of books to people from low-income backgrounds.
By tackling the issue of book accessibility, we ensure that the benefits of reading are not confined to a privileged few (such as private school students) but reach every eager mind.
