Maravi

KK bemoans lack of reading culture

KK bemoans lack of reading culture
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Saturday September 22, 2007 [04:00]

IT'S regrettable that we are not a reading nation, Dr Kenneth Kaunda has said. And Dr Kaunda has said it is important to create a conducive atmosphere in which the media can operate independently without undue influence from any quarters. During the opening of the Lubuto Library Project at Fountain of Hope street kids drop in centre in Lusaka's Kamwala area yesterday, Dr Kaunda said while Zambians inherited a strong culture in oral history, they were regrettably not a reading people.

"Yet vast amounts of knowledge, useful creative information that could change you and me are still in the print media, in black and white, in books and magazines. A lot more is available in the electronic media, but for a variety of reasons, this is still the privilege of a few," he said.

He said in addition, most of the best books and magazines were still in English yet there were millions of children who could neither read nor write in English or any local language.

"They are truly disadvantaged, truly poor. They present a serious challenge to society especially educationalists and national leadership. We should not have a nation in which the majority can neither read nor write in any languages," he said.

He challenged the nation's writers of books in local languages to produce even more creative and inspirational works in all languages that would help people open opportunities for access to the best that Zambia and the world could offer to defeat poverty and create hope for a bright future for all.

"Let us get into libraries and grow in knowledge and power for the good of our country and mankind. No one is too old to learn to read. Only last week, a unique senior citizen of this world made history in South Africa. At age of 101 she graduated from a literacy class! She was on television practicing the art of reading. She had a mission, developed a passion for education and learned to read. You could see the excitement on her face. This is your challenge and mine, follow her and you will come out of the darkness that blurs your vision and keeps you in the vice-grip of poverty," he said.

Dr Kaunda said as a teacher, he saw the potential for strengthening the efforts of government in improving the levels of literacy in the country.

He said Zambia had tremendous challenges in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) yet the catchment area for children who should be in school was huge.
Dr Kaunda said school places were inadequate and the result was that thousands of children were squeezed out of the school system at a tender age, thrown into the cold and cruel world without hope in their future.

"Worse still, many young girls fall prey to idleness and become victims of early pregnancies and early marriages. Even some in school fall out and join the victims of fate. Their future is destroyed. In a crime-ridden world which offers them no hope, many young children also fall prey to anti-social behaviour such as alcohol and drug abuse and even stealing," he said.

He said many of these children were brilliant, with qualities to excel in their performance in and outside class and had the potential to make tremendous contribution to the development of their communities and country.

Dr Kaunda said libraries as vast reservoirs of productive information provide opportunities for education.

He said rural areas faced an educational crisis of major proportions which needed to be resolutely addressed but this should not be left to government alone to tackle.
"As responsible citizens, we must each play our part," he said.

And United States first lady Laura Bush in a message read for her by US Ambassador to Zambia, Carmen Martinez, said libraries stand as beacons of knowledge and inspiration.
Laura said reading was the secret to people's greatest success.

And launching the 2007 to 2011 Panos Southern African strategic plan on Thursday evening, Dr Kaunda who is also Panos Southern Africa patron said it was necessary that the public was well informed on issues of governance and social interaction among others.

He said the public needed to make informed decisions on issues that affect them.
Dr Kaunda said in order to achieve this, it was necessary to have a conducive atmosphere in which information was freely disseminated to the public without bias, fear of intimidation or persecution.

"This is very important in any democracy because the media should play an important role in providing checks and balances. This can only be attained where there is genuine freedom of the press," he said.

He said the media's role was to inform and entertain the public and in fulfilling this role, it was important that the media does so without fear or favour especially in presentation of editorials.

Dr Kaunda said in this way, the public could be assured of receiving unbiased and uncensored information on many issues including economic, social and political developments.

He said the general public worldwide usually took as gospel truth information that was disseminated by the media.

"The media is therefore a very powerful institution which can either destroy or build the standing in society of governments, organisations of individuals. This is why it is extremely important, in keeping with the rules of natural justice, for fairness and balance in its dissemination of information," he said.

Dr Kaunda said the media could to a very large extent act as an oversight to government functioning as well as to the conduct of the private sector.He said this called for investigative journalism in order for the truth to be brought forth and where necessary, action taken by relevant authorities.

Dr Kaunda said during elections, it was important that the media gave fair and equal coverage to all political parties contesting elections.

"This is necessary in order to level the playing field for all the contestants. The media therefore should have no favourites or enemies in executing its role of dissemination of information," he said.

And Panos Southern Africa regional director Parkie Mbozi said the new goals redirect Panos' energies to empowering the poor and the marginalised to be in the driving seat of development.

Mbozi said the new plan would ensure that those sitting in the margins of development were afforded opportunities, channels of communication and timely and appropriate information for sustainable development in the areas of heath, HIV/AIDS, environment, natural resources, governance, gender and poverty alleviation.

And Swedish/Norwegian HIV/AIDS team regional head for Africa Kristina Ramstedt said Sweden attached great importance to the undisputable role that the media plays in democratic and development processes.

Labels: BOOKS, KENNETH KAUNDA

posted by MrK @ 4:09 AM