Strengthening learning: Setting up 60,000 reading corners in primary schools

Hibapress

The Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa visited the Hay Essalam Salé school on Tuesday to accompany and support the operation of equipping reading corners for all primary school classes across the Kingdom.

This year, 60,000 reading corners, including 25,000 in “pioneer schools”, will receive an initial allocation of 50 books each, in Arabic and French, including stories, albums, encyclopedias, dictionaries and comics, indicates a press release from the ministry, specifying that this preliminary allocation could be enriched thanks to the voluntary contribution of families, associations and partners.

This initiative will allow primary school students to have access to a class library with a support program so that the reading activity becomes a daily reality in the lives of students both in classes and in extracurricular time.

It also underlines the importance given to reading in improving children’s learning, one of the three strategic objectives of the 2022-2026 roadmap for a quality public school for all, notes the same source, noting that In all primary schools, these books will be used in generalized reading rituals at the start of the year.

Since the start of the 2023-2024 school year, the first results in pioneering schools show that the focus on fundamental learning has made it possible to strengthen students’ reading skills in terms of decoding, fluency and comprehension. These children are now better equipped to fully benefit from the virtues of reading: acquiring more knowledge, enriching vocabulary, developing creativity, exchanging ideas, etc. Access to books is a window on the world which contributes decisively to the academic, personal and social development of students.

To strengthen existing national initiatives and projects to make children love reading, a new fun program is being put in place: “The challenge of champions: I will read 20 books per year”, underlines the same source, noting that this program is initially tested in pioneer schools.

And to add that each week, the teacher assigns a book to the student who can read it at school or at home. Management of the class library is based on a charter which involves students and contributes to the development of cooperative and civic behavior.

A reading notebook is set up to allow students to recreate their reading experience through written and graphic productions. Lectures and class discussions are planned to stimulate the exchange of ideas and the expression of opinions. Student opinions will be systematically taken into account in the choice of books that will be acquired for future reading corners.

One of the conditions for the success of this operation is the involvement of parents who must ensure the proper use of the books. In pioneer schools, books are being distributed to students so that they can read them during the holidays starting April 26, the press release concludes.