There is a gap in Fiji’s Education system with respect to the level and quality of literacy of young children.
Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy says the problem is compounded with the IT revolution and electronic gadgets available to youth today.
Dr Reddy says fewer children are reading from hard cover books – leading to the erosion of the culture of reading.
Earlier this week the Minister signed an MOU that helps NGO Vision Fiji’s programme called “Read to Lead-Fiji.”
Vision Fiji vice chair Gazala Akbar says they appreciate all the support they have received by the Education Minister – which will also be responsible for delivery of these books.
“We’ve through the media and exam results that the rate of literacy is really dropping. We saw this as a problem and we thought we could provide a solution. So we started bringing in books."
The countrywide reading programme is committed to delivering over 185,000 new children’s books to Fiji’s 732 primary schools.
