If you can read, you can learn anything!
Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) will be celebrating Literacy Week from the 5-9th of September to promote the importance of literacy in PNG. The program will include cultural learning, pre-STEM eco exploration, financial literacy activities at events celebrated with the organisation’s donor partners, volunteers, and parents.
Literacy, Numeracy, STEM, and digital skills alongside cultural knowledge are all equally important aspects children need, to prepare for their future careers and life in Papua New Guinea.
As the country lags behind its neighbours in the Pacific with regards to literacy rates and access to education opportunities, BbP seeks to use Literacy Week to advocate for the importance of Early Childhood Education, the establishment of school libraries and Inclusive Education to increase literacy rates.
Monday and Tuesday will be dedicated to cultural learning. The children enrolled in BbP’s ECE program will be studying the importance of the ocean, village, forest and animals in PNG culture through craft activities and story-telling by parents and officers from the National Museum of PNG. The children will then display their stories, which will be added to the BbP learning app so all children across the country can share their culture and customs. A visit to the National Museum and Gallary will take place Tuesday morning for an immersive cultural learning experience for the children and the announcement
Wednesday will be all about eco exploration. The children will engage in 3 types of observation to stimulate and develop basic scientific skills. They will be learning to observe things closely with magnifying glasses and to compare. Activities will include fingerprinting, eco-exploration in nature settings as well as fun literacy and numeracy games. A group of 250 children will be exploring at the Port Moresby Nature Park.
Thursday and Friday will be all about financial literacy and the children will be setting up shops and hold a ‘Market Day’ and learn through play to demonstrate their numeracy skills to parents, donor partners and invited guests. BbP has also created a
financial literacy video in partnership with BSP which will be used as part of the ECE program to teach the children about PNG notes and coins both from a financial and cultural knowledge perspective.
The Literacy Week program has been generously sponsored by ExxonMobil PNG and includes learning materials, uniform t-shirts, mini cash registers and shopping, magnifying glasses, trolleys for all BbP’s Library Learning Centres across the country. BbP’s donor partners will be sending volunteers to engage with the children and lots of stationery, fruit, vegetables, drinks and baked goods the children will be “pretend selling” to each other during their Market Day celebration.