The Nation Media Group has extended its Newspapers in Education (NiE) initiative to Marsabit County.
The programme was hailed for engaging constructively young minds through the pages of the Daily Nation and Taifa Leo newspapers.
The NiE programme is a cooperative effort between schools, examiners and NMG to promote the use of newspapers as an educational resource.
Speaking during its launch and activation at Dakabaricha Secondary School in Marsabit Central sub-county, Principal Ibrahim Gere emphasised the need for other schools to consistently promote the reading of newspapers to boost a reading culture.
“Both our students and teachers learned new things during the Newspapers in Education activation programme in our school. We learned new information retention skills, comprehension, and question-answering skills. We hope the programme will boost our school performance,” Mr Gere said.
Mr Gere was impressed by the outcome of a one-hour interactive lesson conducted by NMG NiE manager Annie Gitau, calling it an intelligent and immersive learning experience for students with a focus on boosting a reading culture.
He was particularly impressed that the programme brings learning alive through immersive question-and-answer sessions, short, augmented comprehension, and communication skills.
Dakabaricha High School students display Daily Nation newspaper copies after the launch of NMG's Newspapers in Education program in the school on October 16, 2022. The program was hailed for boosting the learners' communication skills.
Photo credit: Jacob Walter I Nation Media Group
Furthermore, it enhances conceptual understanding and information retention by helping learners remember the names of people, things, numbers, geographical locations, and names repeated in any given text that they read.
Dakabaricha Secondary School Journalism Club patron Jacob Kirimi was also upbeat that the programme would open his students’ minds to the outer world and further improve their imaginative writing and comprehension skills.
Marsabit County newspapers agent Tito Nderitu, a former high school teacher, underscored the importance of the NiE, saying it would boost the students’ language skills, especially English and Swahili.
Dakabaricha High School Principal Ibrahim Gere (second left) and his deputy (right) flanked by the Nation Media Group team showcase some of the trophies won by the school in academics and sports on October 16, 2022.
Photo credit: Jacob Walter I Nation Media Group
Since its inception, it has covered 600 schools and learners have benefited immensely.
The NiE is an initiative of the Nation Media Group that seeks to improve children’s language, reading, comprehension and numeracy skills and prepare them to answer questions from a point of view and position of understanding.
For as little as Sh20,000 per term or Sh60,000 annually, a school subscribes to 20 copies of the Daily Nation every Monday and 30 Taifa Leo newspapers every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for primary schools, or Thursday, Friday and Saturday for secondary schools.
School board members, parents, alumni, government officials, corporations and individuals can sponsor a school to get the newspapers.
Dakabaricha High School students display Daily Nation newspaper copies after the launch of the Newspapers in Education plan in the school on October 16, 2022.
Photo credit: Jacob Walter I Nation Media Group
The Nation Media Group also offers services such as visitation and activation of learning material extraction from the newspapers.
The enrolled schools enjoy free delivery of newspapers to their schools or at an agreed drop-off point.
The schools also get enrolled in the Insha Competition, where students and teachers stand a chance of winning cash prizes and school fees.
