As part of efforts to encourage a culture of reading, President Julius Maada Bio on Tuesday officially launched a mobile library initiative, an idea of the Lunch Box.
The launching ceremony at State House was graced by dignitaries, including ministers and other government officials.
The mobile library initiative is an idea of Sierra Leonean educationist, Memunatu Janneh, who said she was inspired by the vision of the President’s flagship Free Quality Education (FQE) programme that seeks to ensure every Sierra Leonean gets education. Janneh, founder of Lunch Box, said like the FQE, the mobile library seeks to increase the level of reading among kids because reading was critical to education.
President of 50/50 Group, a leading campaign group of women’s empowerment, Dr Fatou Taqi, remarked at the occasion that the move presented a timely opportunity for civil society organisations and private partners to work in consonance with the government. Ms Taqi, according to a news release from the office of the Press Secretary at the presidency, said that the free quality education was quite important as part of basic human rights. She added that the initiative was needed to regain the lost culture of reading and reclaiming the pathway for a better nation.
For his part, President Bio reiterated his stance of education, noting that his declaration of the free quality education as a national project requires the support of everyone.
“But reading and comprehension matter. Children who read have more advanced cognitive skills, they are more successful in critical thinking and process information faster, they are higher achievers in later education,” he told the audience at the launch.
Bio went on to describe the mobile library platform was a laudable initiative that would provide access to reading materials for thousands of children, improve their development in education and augment the work of the Sierra Leone Library Board.
© 2019 Politico Online
