NRC

Quality education – specifically, achievement in numeracy and literacy – underpins the success of nations around the world by equipping their people with the skills they need to make the biggest possible social and economic contributions.

In February 2020, the Rwandan Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) launched the National Reading Campaign (NRC). Its aim was to address the issue of low literacy rates amongst children in Rwanda, to realise the potential of a new generation of Rwandan citizens to support the socio-economic transformation of the nation and, to support the Government’s specific ambition to give all children the skills they need to speak, read, and write Kinyarwanda.

The landmark campaign was also designed to support progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
4 which aims to ensure “all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy
and numeracy by 2030”. The NRC was led and delivered by Soma Rwanda members. Soma Rwanda is an initiative of MINEDUC/Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) delivered in cooperation with development partners dedicated to promoting a culture of reading and literacy throughout Rwanda.

In engaging communities and stakeholders across Rwanda, the NRC set out to elevate the issue of literacy to the status of a national priority. In the process, it sought to raise the importance of every Rwandan student having a strong foundation in reading and writing over the course of their formal education.

The goal of the National Reading Campaign 2020-2021 therefore, was:

All children reading at early grade to the required benchmarks is made a national and urgent priority at all levels

And the specific objectives included:

• Help Rwanda progress towards national literacy goals by elevating literacy for all to a national, cross-sectoral priority
• Promote the importance of every Rwandan student having a strong foundation in reading and writing over the course of their formal education
• Help nurture an environment that facilitates literacy and lifelong learning by building the capacity of parents and the wider community
• Inspire lifelong and life-wide literacy across all ages and abilities by cultivating a community-wide habit of reading and by thoughtfully building opportunities for literacy skills development into the context and activities of everyday life
• Ensure access to quality reading materials for all Rwandans by investing in the expansion and improvement of the public library system throughout the country and promoting a vibrant publishing and book selling industry

The NRC delivered a rich and varied programme of awareness raising activities for the duration and ensured impact from the very start by making the most of existing relationships with high profile supporters, and by developing new relationships with potentially influential figures. Above all, the campaign demonstrated the value of resilience and creativity when faced with the challenges posed by the significant, unexpected events of COVID-19.

Delivering the Campaign:

• The NRC was launched on 5 February 2020, with simultaneous regional launches in all 30 Rwandan districts and a major national headline event in Burera District.
• When Covid-19 reached Rwanda and schools were closed, Soma Rwanda developed a parent’s awareness campaign under the NRC to utilize radio and community announcements to support reading and learning at home.
• Radio was prioritized throughout the campaign to share the message to Make Time for Reading, at least 15 minutes each day. PSAs, musical jingles, panel discussions, and reading programs were broadcast regularly across the country.
• The identification and celebration of change makers was a key campaign strategy to utilize role models in encouraging positive behavior change. Change makers were drawn from public life and from communities – all people with energy and commitment to transforming reading, using innovative techniques, and creating change.
• The NRC Media Awards built media support for the campaign by incentivizing and recognizing the media’s contribution to promoting the importance and value of reading for young people’s education and development. Visit the Media Awards page to learn more
• The celebration of international days were built around promotion of literacy and its value to society. These included International Mother Language Day, International Day of People with Disabilities, and International Literacy Day.
• Reading and writing competitions were organized to motivate students and promote literacy skills development.
• During Rwanda’s national literacy month 2020, a social media Read Aloud Challenge was promoted in order to orient community members on their role to support children to read. Individuals posted videos and photos of themselves reading with and to children, tagging others to keep the challenge growing.

The NRC was a success despite the unprecedented and extreme impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a post-campaign survey showing that almost all (97%) respondents were ‘at least somewhat familiar’ with the campaign.

Most survey respondents said that they had heard or seen information about literacy in Rwanda during the period of the campaign. Just over one quarter said they received information about literacy at least “a few times” whilst another quarter said they received information weekly.

Some respondents shared how they saw the campaign impact reading in their home, school, and community:

“Now I see my children reading books even though no one has asked them to read”
“I have seen parents reading stories for their children in public”
“I see that children get more time to read at school and at home than before the campaign”
“I have visited some schools where the campaign was very strong and there is a good culture of students borrowing books and parents are sensitized to support their child at home. But in other schools where the campaign did not reach, these practices are lagging.”
“My children have designated their own time to read. I have a bookshelf for them and every evening, I find disorder because my children have been reading. They also often ask me questions about what they have read.”
“Many parents learnt the importance of allowing and helping children to read and I know different families who have made reading a culture because of the campaign.”

The following lessons were taken from the National Reading Campaign, which can provide useful guidance for future campaigns.

1. The NRC benefited from robust design principles
2. The NRC had clear campaign objectives
3. Partnerships were the foundation of campaign delivery
4. Core creative elements provided structure and reach
5. Using a range of dissemination methods was essential in reaching communities
6. Some elements of the NRC could adapt quickly to Covid-19 restrictions
7. The value of campaigns is in generating attention on a single issue over a defined period
8. Leadership and ownership of the NRC was essential to its success

Overall, it is clear that government, its agencies, and literacy partners in Rwanda have significant energy and skills in promoting reading in Rwanda. The NRC has shown the value of acting in a coordinated and focused manner to bring the importance of reading to widespread public attention.

See the full campaign report for more on the delivery, outputs, and lessons learnt from the National Reading Campaign (link once report is available)