Ethnikids, in partnership with Wimpy, have launched an African folktale collection of books in the 11 official languages, which educational psychologist Seago Maapola said speak to South African children.

Maapola said it was shocking that literacy levels in the country were “far below than where they should be”, with almost 80% of Grade 4 pupils not able to read in their native language.

“Research has shown that if a child is unable to read by the age of 13, they will actually drop out of school, and not be able to go to high school because they don’t have the foundational skills they need to make it in high school.”

Maapola commended the founders of Ethnikids and the authors who have created diverse reading materials with “multicultural multilingual content and tales that represent the rainbow nation’s melting pot”.

The author of Chicharito, Sihle Nontshokweni, said mother tongue books were not part of the mainstream, nor were they readily available, but she was happy to be part of an initiative that will officially change that narrative.

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Nontshokweni said the most important part of this project was seeing children relate emotionally and mentally to the characters she and her colleagues created.

A parent, Comfort Tshabalala, said coming from a village to Johannesburg was a culture shock for her and her family. Her son often felt left out when they were visiting her family because he became accustomed to speaking English only.

“Every time we go home and he has to mix with his cousins and other children, he feels like he’s from a different planet, and so these books help him learn his home language better,” she added.

Ethnikids cofounder Khumo Tapfumaneyi said everyone has the right to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of their choice.

Studies also show that language diversity in literature creates smarter, happier children who are more likely to succeed later in life.

She noted that 78% of children were unable to understand what they were reading by the age of 10 and only 2% of children’s books in South Africa were in African languages, even though 80% of South Africans’ home language was not English.

Tapfumaneyi also said it was important for children’s self-image to relate to what they read, but also to spark a love of reading.

The Citizen