Vamos Ler! Children's Radio Programmes

The 15-part radio programme was broadcast in the Zambezia and Nampula provinces in Mozambique. Each radio episode comprised: interviews and vox pops with teachers, children, parents, and people in the community; a mini-drama; and reading from one of the storybooks developed as part of the Aprender a Ler (Learn to Read) project (see below for more information on this project). These books were created by Mozambican writers and artists, and made available in participating schools. Each episode was based on a theme, which was linked to the stories in the children's books. The themes included the following: Importance of Reading; Importance of Reading part 2; Oral Portuguese; School; Artists; The Environment; Professions; Parties; Animals; Food; Reading Plants; Dance; Sports; At the Market.

Although designed primarily for grades 2 and 3 learners, the radio programmes also sought to encourage teachers to adopt creative classroom methods and to build parents awareness of the importance of encouraging their children to read. The programmes were broadcast on radio stations in the focus areas and were provided to educators on CD for use in the classroom.

To produce the programmes, interviews were conducted with adults and children participating in the Aprender a Ler project in Zambezia and Nampula. The interviews with educators were intended to provide peer sharing of different approaches and techniques that can be used within the classroom. As well, a reading group for children was organised in collaboration with a local school. Children gathered weekly to listen to the storybook reading, do related activities, and ask and answer questions about the book. This was recorded and included in the programme.

Education, Children, Literacy

With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Aprender a Ler (ApaL) project is running from 2012 to 2016. The primary focus of the project is to improve reading outcomes for students in grades 2-3 in over 1,000 urban and rural schools in the Zambezia and Nampula provinces of Mozambique through a two-fold approach: increasing the quality of reading instruction through production, distribution, and training in the application of reading instruction materials and training and coaching methodologies; and increasing the quantity of reading instruction through strengthening school management and institutional capacity-building at school, district, and provincial levels.