Kids Read has had two successful years in Vietnam. The project reached nearly 4,000 primary children in Binh Duong, and with over 3,500 students in Hanoi who directly participated in its activities. A further 10,000 children have indirectly benefited from access to Kids Read Library and received lessons from the 50 trained teachers. Each year, in addition to book delivery to schools, teacher training, and competitions for both children and teachers, there were four community events which were organised, involving thousands of parents and students.
Through the two years of implementation in Binh Duong and Hanoi, the project has brought encouraging results for students, schools and parents: students built regular reading habits; teachers participating in the project were trained and professionally supported by the British Council in integrating story-telling activities in their lessons; and parents had access to book lists and reading methods to help nurture the love of books for their children.
Photos: Hai Dang/British Council
The project fits with the library development plan for primary schools as well as supports in achieving the goal of improving the English language proficiency of students of the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project for participating schools.
The Ho Chi Minh city Department of Education and Training welcomes the British Council and HSBC to implement the project in Ho Chi Minh city this year and will support the project to achieve its goals.
In 2017, Kids Read will set up libraries in six primary schools in Ho Chi Minh city and provide approximately 200 story books to each school. The library is a basic resource for schools to proactively organise reading sessions for children, and for teachers to embed creative reading activities in their regular teaching.
Around 4,000 students from Tan Thong Primary School - Cu Chi district; Ly Chinh Thang Primary School - Hoc Mon district; Nguyen Truc Primary School - Nha Be district; Binh Chanh Primary School - Binh Chanh district; Le Quy Don Primary School - Binh Tan district; and Can Thanh Primary School - Can Gio district will have the opportunity to read more books and participate in story-telling competitions.
Jon Glendinning, Director Ho Chi Minh city, British Council said: ‘Reading is a transferable skill that opens up a world of opportunities for children. Good reading habits established early, improve later performance in a range of life skills as well as developing language and critical thinking skills.
The project encourages Vietnamese primary children to read for pleasure both in the classroom and at home. It will also help develop the English language skills of the future generation through access to the very best of UK children’s books./.