Across the Eduspots network, one of the key areas of focus is literacy development due to its impact on wider educational engagement and achievement, alongside various other societal and well-being implications. Due to the pandemic, there is an even bigger need to push forward with literacy development with all students in our communities having been out of school for nine months in 2020.
Community-led Events
One of the ways to nurture literacy development was through the network-wide EduSpots Summer Literacy Festival held throughout July and August this year.
The aim of the summer literacy festival was to promote a diverse range of literacy engagement across all communities in the EduSpots network. Volunteers took this opportunity to create community-led literacy programs and simultaneously showcase other talents and interests of community members. We were delighted that over 20 communities-led literacy-focused events of different forms, reflecting the communities’ interests and culture.
The use of poetry, drama, storytelling, choreography and music is a way communities convey the important message of literacy. Obed at the Gomoa Manso spots said that “storytelling improves listening skills, the ability to use narrative language and promotes excitement about reading”. A volunteer at Akumadan community, James, also said that “people are excited to see different talents used to promote literacy”.
The Summer literacy festival is also an opportunity for community members to reignite their commitment to volunteering, with James in Akumadan commenting that “we should invest our time into volunteering and show passion and be ready to make sacrifices for future generations”.
The Summer Literacy Festival has also created an enthusiasm among children in the communities to expand their vocabulary with give communities hosting spelling bee competitions, bringing state and independent schools in their local communities together. Nimatu in Savelugu expressed that “students are inspired to learn more on spelling, synonyms and antonyms and the correct use of some English words”.
Book Delivery
The literacy festival this year coincided with EduSpots delivery of 28,000 books across 42 communities, with books donated from over 20 schools and Book Aid International. The delivery of these books created a renewed sense of passion and further inspired the dreams of many children across the communities, especially for those who have been unable to access quality academic guidance since the start of the pandemic.
Kwame’s Adventures is one of the books that has inspired more reading among children in EduSpots communities. The book is set in the Abofour community and children across all the spots were excited by the familiarity of the context and the story as well. Gloria, a volunteer in Abofour noted that “Kwame’s Adventures attracts more children to the library and once they are there, their attention is drawn to all the other books available”. In total we delivered 1000 copies of the second Kwame’s adventures book, set in Abofour, alongside 2000 copies of our new phonics books: The Bee is Free and Kobi the Goat.
Thank you to all who have supported in different ways. Follow us on social media @eduspots for more updates on activities in the spots.