The FunDza Literacy Trust is very grateful to law publisher Siber Ink for supporting its Popularising reading programme so that some Eastern Cape schools – such as Malikhanye Senior Secondary School, Barkly East – can receive sets of the Harmony High series of books.
Simon Sephton, owner of Siber Ink, provided some feedback on why his company is supporting the programme:
“As publishers, we at Siber Ink are so very aware of the benefits of books of any sort to the development of individuals and consequently of communities and nations. Our own focus is law books, without which we’d have no legal certainty and no foundation for the establishment of the rule of law. But no learning of any kind – whether technical, legal, scientific, business, medical or any other sort – can take place without a solid foundation in literacy. And literacy is nurtured through story telling, which has a place not just in the development of the capacity to read, but crucially also in the capacity to think, to dream, to imagine, to create, to build, to lead, and to inspire others.
So we at Siber Ink believe in the deep and fundamental value of literacy and of telling stories, and as our country faces educational and employment crises, in the importance of inspiring children to learn the love of reading independently of their schools and their required reading.
For this reason, it is our belief that what FunDza and Cover2Cover are doing is among the most important jobs that anyone in contemporary South Africa is doing, and we are delighted to support them in our small way by getting as many books as we can to schools and to children who want to read. Our own focus is particularly on rural schools in the Eastern Cape, because of personal links to the area and because of the chronic problems faced by the children there in having their rights to a basic education realised.”
According to Gail Cloete, the senior English teacher at Malikhayne SSS, the books are enjoyed by the learners – particularly those in Grade 11 and 12. Gail adds that as the English teacher, she has noted a slight improvement in the writing abilities of the learners, which she can only attribute to the fact that the learners have had access to this additional reading material.
FunDza is heartened at the positive responses to the Popularising reading programme by beneficiary organisations and, most importantly, in the feedback we receive from the end-readers. Siber Ink plays a big part in making this outreach work possible – our sincere thanks to Simon Sephton and his team for their ongoing support.
Contact Nicci Giles to find out how to get involved as a sponsor in the Popularising reading programme.