On a mission to promote reading

The Ministry of Education has successfully concluded a two-week reading campaign titled “READ” that aimed at improving the reading skills of children. It also marked the 100 years of the establishment of formal education in the Kingdom.

Speaking to Tribune, Ministry of Education Project Manager Shaikha Hala Al Khalifa, said: “Reading lays the foundation for future learning. Reading inspires us and triggers our imagination. “The campaign aimed to increase literacy awareness amongst children, families and the wider community through the innovate library bus we have developed along with various events, workshops and training programmes for teachers.”

“The Ministry of Education is celebrating 100 years of transformative teaching, learning, and schooling. Bahrain has the oldest education system in the Arabian Peninsula with the establishment of Al Hidaya Al Khalifia School in 1919. “Now, 100 years later we are focusing on 21st-century education and innovative learning.

As such we have launched the Read Programme once again this year, with the aim of digitizing the bus with e-readers as well, to ensure that it is accessible to children of all levels and ages. “The Read Campaign has already gained such positive reviews from students and the wider community.

Students are captivated by the library bus and the assortment of books in both Arabic and English that it contains whereas parents loved all the various literacy activities the campaign promoted from reading with their children to cooking meals from classic children’s books.”