“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary” – a popular quote by American author Jim Rohn that rings exceptionally true closer to home, where a lack of access to books and educational resources continues to hold South Africa’s youth back.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) reveals that 78% of South African children cannot read with comprehension at Grade 4 level. This, together with the fact that most public schools do not have any, or adequate library resources or facilities, signals alarms and means that finding better solutions to these dire challenges on a grassroots level, should be a priority.

“These numbers are alarming and need to be treated as a crisis in South Africa. Learners who are not able to read in their different languages and are not encouraged to grow a love for reading and learning are not being equipped to reach the extraordinary futures they deserve,” says Taylor Kwong, CSI manager at Vuma. “Providing children and their families with access to more opportunities to nurture a love for reading is an imperative, and the responsibility of all South Africans who can do something to help.”

Vuma recently partnered with Qualibooks in support of the organisation’s Kibooks.Online initiative, a subscription-based digital library that aims to nurture a love for reading in South African children of all ages, backgrounds and languages, while fulfilling their need for interactive learning through digital features and elements that engage their senses.

To get more children reading and close the digital divide, two thousand free Kibooks.Online subscriptions will be given to households who live in communities that are part of Vuma’s REACH fibre network and sign up with Vuma during the month of October. And, because the platform boasts thousands of titles written and published in South Africa in all 11 official South African languages, the material is more readily accessible to a wider range of learners.

“Encouraging a love for reading among children is not only important for the learning and educational development of children in South Africa, but an imperative in South Africa’s overarching goal of preparing children to lead successful, sustainable careers later in life,” says Christopher de Beer, Director at Qualibooks.

Muallim Akhtar Ali, principal at the Auckland Park Academy of Excellence (APAX), one of the 600 schools in Vuma’s Fibre to Schools project, where Kibooks.Online is already in use, agrees that children are not reading as much as they should be, and says that the Kibooks.Online platform encourages a more meaningful relationship with books, reading and learning.

“Not only does it give educators the ability to monitor reading and learning happening in the classroom, but the platform also offers educators, parents and learners improved access, anywhere and at any time, to reading material that can supplement hard copy readers and books used in and out of the classroom,” he says.