Collect-a-Can National Book Drive for Mandela Month

Celebrate Mandela Month by helping our little learners to improve their reading skills

We all know about the textbook saga in South Africa, and that there are too many students without access to good books across the country. To help combat this, you can join Collect-a-Can’s Collect-a-Book initiative, which is a national book drive in celebration of Mandela Month. The initiative involves donating reading books throughout July to contribute to improving South Africa’s literacy rate.

According to the Department of Basic Education, eight out of ten schools in South Africa do not have libraries. This book drive will reach out to underprivileged schools and bring books to the eager learners so that they can be inspired by storytellers and go on adventures through literature.

Collect-a-Can has selected Chuma Primary School from Khayelitsha, as well as four other schools across the country, to benefit from their initiative and they’ll hand over all the donated items on Friday, 24 July 2015. ReaderLympics, an organisation that helps children, families and schools engage in reading activities, will also take part, with various volunteers assisting to make reading more exciting and entertaining for the young learners.

“Improving South Africa’s literacy rate by putting books in the hands of children will encourage more individuals to read, which could expose our youth to a world of possibility,” says Collect-a-Cans’ public relations and marketing manager Zimasa Velaphi.

The Collect-a-Book drive will also focus on a green environmental conservation project where the schools will be encouraged to collect cans for recycling. These cans will be a sort of donation in exchange for the books they receive.

“We challenge all companies and individuals to help us make our Collect-a-Book drive one to remember by assisting us in bringing books to children, ultimately reducing the rate of learners that do not have access to books. Together we can make a positive difference to South Africa’s literacy rate,” says Velaphi.

According to recent government statistics, South Africa’s youth literacy rate (ages 15 to 24) is sitting at 93%. This has steadily risen over the years, indicating a slow improvement in our reading education. South Africa has the third highest overall (for all ages) literacy rate on the continent at 86.4%, behind Equatorial Guinea (87.0%) and Zimbabwe (90.7%).

CONTRIBUTING TO THE COLLECT-A-CAN COLLECT-A-BOOK DRIVE IN CAPE TOWN

The Collect-a-Can office is located at 11A Fisher Avenue, Epping 1, Cape Town. If you have any reading books for donation, you can drop them off at this address. Alternatively, you can contact them on +27 (0)11 466 2939 and ask for someone to come and collect the books from your house. Visit their website at Collectacan.co.za to find out about donating books (or cans). Check out their Facebook page and Twitter account for more information.

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Have a squiz at our guide to annual July events to find out about more hot happenings taking place during the month.

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