Literacy Association of Zambia (LAZ) says Zambia is not performing very well in terms of literacy levels.
LAZ President Anna Murru said this at the 2023 Literacy Fair held under the theme “Celebrating the joy of reading” co-hosted by ChildFund and the Literacy Association of Zambia.
Ms. Murru paid special tribute to the Government, ChildFund and UNICEF, among others, for strengthening efforts to improve literacy levels in Zambia.
“Our Association which has been in existence for four years now, will continue to work with the government to promote literacy in Zambia”, she said.
She said the Literacy Fair was intended to celebrate literacy and infuse a reading culture in children as opposed to spending more time on social media which children are more exposed to.
Ms. Murru said the Literacy Fair also provided an opportunity for teachers to share skills on how they can promote reading among children.
“We have publishers, old and young authors plus a number of volunteers that turned up to support the event,” she said.
Meanwhile, ChildFund Zambia Education Technical Manager Edith Ng’oma said ChildFund Zambia has collaborated with the Government in promoting literacy in Zambia since inception in 1983.
“Our main role is to compliment what the Government is doing because the Ministry of Education has been working hard to improve literacy levels in Zambia. When the Literacy Association of Zambia (LAZ) came up with the idea of a Literacy Fair, ChildFund was willing to support the event because we want to see every child learn how to read and write,” she said.
Ms. Ng’oma said the Literacy Fair 2023 was a success because it brought together over ten schools to share experiences on what they were doing to promote reading and writing.
