KUCHING: Reading kits containing specially designed baby books with reading skill technique manuals for parents will be distributed to pregnant mothers in Sarawak when they register for the Endowment Fund Sarawak (EFS).
State Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the kits would be distributed under the Reading Seeds programme that sought to promote literacy in the early stages of a child’s life.
“Reading plays an important part of lifelong learning and this important skill should be developed as soon as a child is born.
“When children develop a love for reading from young, they will be motivated to continue reading and learning,” she told a press conference held in conjunction with the Reading Seeds Programme organised by Sarawak State Library (Pustaka) here at Pustaka Library today.
Fatimah said distributing the kits via EFS was necessary as it would enable Pustaka to trace parents’ information and gain feedbacks to check the effectiveness of the programme.
She said it would help to monitor the development of the children’s learning ability.
“A child’s first few years are also critical time in the development of lifelong literacy. During this time, a child’s passion for reading and storytelling can be developed easily and effortlessly.
“We need to create a reading culture in the community to produce quality and knowledgeable human capital as the state continues to progress,” she said
In stressing that such efforts were significant for human capital development, Fatimah also urged the media to work with Pustaka in promoting the initiative.
