Friends of African Village Libraries plans to run summer reading camps at 12 community libraries to help 300 elementary school children who have limited access to reading materials develop their reading, writing and comprehension skills and improve their academic performance.
The literacy rate in Burkina Faso is 28.73% according to 2007 UNESCO statistics, and even lower in rural areas. Schools are overpopulated and understaffed. Students struggle through school with poor reading and writing skills. As a result, success rate is not very high for middle school entrance exams. Friends of African Village Libraries will help 300 elementary school students increase their literacy skills, introduce them to their local library and increase their chances at academic success.
300 elementary school students who will take the middle school entrance exam at the end of the 2013-2014 school year will receive individual attention and specialized instruction for one week during summer vacation to work on reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Students will work on art projects in order to develop their creativity and imagination. Camp participation will prepare students for the upcoming school year and increase success rate on the entrance exam.
We will develop the literacy skills of 300 elementary school students, and introduce innovative techniques to 12 school teachers that they will use in the classroom and share with colleagues in the following school year. Thus students will be better prepared to learn and teachers will be armed with more effective strategies for teaching literacy skills, which will lead to increased academic success.
