By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel and Sodeinde Temidayo David
The Lagos State Office of Sustainable Development Goals and Investment (SDG&I) has launched a virtual book review platform designed specifically for students in Lagos State to further promote literacy.
The readership promotion campaign, which is tagged Read Along and was launched on Sunday, October 31, is considered a significant move towards enhancing the learning ability of students across the metropolis by encouraging a healthy reading culture.
The platform features free e-books for the first 500 participants to register, internet data for participants, social interaction with mentors and professionals as well as gifts and internship programs for outstanding students.
Commenting on the official launch of the initiative which was held at Folarin Coker Auditorium, Staff Clinic, Alausa, Ikeja, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals and Investment, Mrs Solape Hammond, affirmed that the state government was providing strong leadership in the educational ecosystem.
“Reading along is interactive, sensory, and exciting for all. It helps build a strong and loving relationship with the students and it is an easy way to interact and connect with them,” she added.
Expressing optimism over the project, the state Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, who was represented by the Director, Private-Public Partnerships, Ministry of Education, Mr Adebayo Adeyemi, remarked that, “Enhancing reading skills of children is important to their success in school as it would allow them to access the breadth of information, improve their communication and language skills and open doors to all kinds of new worlds for them.”
On his part, the organiser of the initiative, the Executive Director of Pyramid Educational Advancement Foundation, Mr Adedapo Adegboyega Conde, noted that the programme is significant to students’ social and academic life and that the platform would develop the mindset of students to understand the beauty in knowledge acquisition.
He said the objective of the initiative is to improve healthy reading culture and learning amongst youths and that it would also help in promoting positive use of social media platforms and provide mentorship opportunities towards ensuring they all acquire sustainable development skills.
Students across the state were, thereafter, encouraged to engage with the initiative by visiting www.tinyurl.com/PEA-READ-ALONG, as it has also been designed to encourage positive use of social media platforms and offer mentorship opportunities.
