About 350 students of Kihuti High School in Nyeri County are to benefit from Nation Media Group’s Newspapers in Education (NiE) programme.
The students will get free Daily Nation and Taifa Leo newspapers for the next one year, courtesy of two residents- Emmanuel Kabaki and Morrison Kiruchi.
Speaking on Thursday during the issuance of the Sh60,000 cheque for the initiative, Mr Kiruchi said the move was meant to improve the school’s reading culture.
“Once day scholars leave school, they don’t speak the official languages to practice what they learnt making them lag behind when compared to their counterparts in boarding schools,” he said.
But through the NiE program, Mr Kiruchi said the students could easily use newspaper cuttings to study during weekends.
Morrison Kiruchi, centre, joins the students in jubilation during the activation of Newspapers in Education (NiE) programme at Kihuti Secondary School in Nyeri on October 6, 2022.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi I Nation Media Group
Currently, the programme is run in 800 primary and secondary schools out of the 46,000 in the country.
NMG’s Head of Circulation George Kihuria said NiE is part of the company’s role in educating the society.
The scheme, he said, aims at improving learners’ performance in Kiswahili and English, adding that the subjects are crucial when choosing university courses.
“Because of this, the company has invested in the education sector by setting aside eight pages in the Daily Nation for primary and high school education content,” he said.
Students of Kihuti High School in Nyeri county follow proceedings during the activation of Newspapers in Education on October 6, 2022.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi I Nation Media Group
As part of the NiE initiative, NMG will keep track of the performance of the students in language subjects and award those who demonstrate exemplary performance at the end of the year.
The programme also includes Taifa Leo newspaper which provides study revision materials and pullouts.
Taifa Leo Managing Editor Peter Ngare said the platform targets schools by publishing examinations, set books reviews and engaging learners through Insha writing competitions.
He urged the students to embrace the initiative introduced by the school by balancing the performance of both Kiswahili and English subjects.
“Currently, there are so many opportunities for Kiswahili ranging from translation jobs but people are shying away from them and opting for English. It is time to take advantage of this,’” he said.
Students of Kihuti High School in Nyeri county follow proceedings during the activation of Newspapers in Education on October 6, 2022.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi I Nation Media Group
NiE is a ‘Young Reader Development’ initiative that involves the use of newspapers in schools for purposes of improving literacy and developing a reading culture among children.
Besides publishing news, NMG is using newspapers as an intervention for laying the needed reading foundation in schools.
Under the programme, every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday copies of the Daily Nation and Taifa Leo are provided to schools. The
The project is driven by the realisation that, currently, the government cannot adequately provide reading materials to all schools.
The programme has been approved by the Ministry of Education and is designed to strengthen the culture of reading while bridging the gap between the school and the real world.
NMG is using two of its products — the Daily Nation and Taifa Leo — in the project, which seeks to address the curriculum needs of a million students by the year 2030.
