Sarawak (Malaysia) Family Literacy Program Model: Community Strategies for promoting literacy

Abstract

The poster describes Pustaka's collaborative strategy on Family Literacy project in 2016 known as "Reading Seeds", which is a program that foster the development of important social skills among children and strong emotional bonds between parent and their children and provides children an essential foundation for engaging with the wider community. Program objectives, (1) to start reading culture as early as possible amongst Sarawakians, (2) create sustainable community based early literacy program opportunities for all children in Sarawak, particularly for those living in socio-economic disadvantaged rural areas. Parents, care givers, toddlers, clinic assistants and nurses at mother and child clinics are engaged (through community based reading workshop and evaluation) to help enhance the skills required for independent reading, while fostering growth in children’s vocabulary, building their confidence in expression and expanding the background knowledge that they bring to every reading task. In term of urban rural disparities, literacy rates for the rural areas of Sarawak were significantly lower compared to urban areas. From 2003 to 2016, the Sarawak State Library have implemented 3 phases of Family Literacy initiatives, phase 1 (Born To Read: 2001 - 2011); phase 2 (Every Child Ready To Read; 2012 - 2015 and phase 3 (Reading Seeds: 2015 - ). Through the Reading Seeds program, each baby born in Sarawak's hospital will get a free reading kit (Reading Seeds Baby Pack). The reading kit includes one bag, two baby books, one reading manual for the parent, library registration card and information of the nearest libraries. The Sarawak State library partnership with the State and Federal Government namely, Ministry of Welfare, Women and Family Development; Ministry of Local Government; Sarawak Health Department; Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia and the National Library of Malaysia. Estimated projected target from 2016 to 2020, the program expected to reach more than 180,000 children and parents and distributes 370,000 of books to families state wide. Reading Seeds program creates significant social value for parents, children and the state of Sarawak, Malaysia.