Ulaanbaatar
The "Let's Read Together" Project to Foster Reading Habits of Children to Continue
Society
Ulaanbaatar, September 24, 2024 /MONTSAME/. Minister of Education of Mongolia Naranbayar Purevsuren met with Sarah Taylor, Resident Representative of The Asia Foundation in Mongolia, Tricia Turbold, Director of Human Resources, Operations, and Financing, and B. Khaliunaa, Foreign Relations Advisor, to discuss the continuation of the "Let's Read Together" Project on September 23, 2024.
From 2021 to 2024, the Ministry of Education of Mongolia and The Asia Foundation, with the support of the "Lorinet Foundation", implemented the "Let's Read Together" Project to support the development of children under five years old through books and help parents and caregivers develop the reading habits of children.
As part of the Project, numerous events promoting the importance of books were organized, and advice on reading habits and techniques was shared online. Additionally, the "Let’s Read" mobile application, a digital library, was developed, featuring over 10,000 children’s books in different languages and approximately 230 books in Mongolian.
The Asia Foundation highlighted the positive outcomes of their collaboration with the "Ger Urgoo" NGO, which conducted training sessions in ger districts to promote the benefits of books and provide guidance on developing reading habits. These efforts have led to an increase in children's vocabulary and self-confidence. Looking forward, they aim to establish voluntary reading clubs, invigorate schools, libraries, and community centers, and implement programs for aspiring authors and illustrators interested in creating children's books. The Asia Foundation also plans to conduct training sessions for kindergarten and school teachers on techniques for teaching children to read, expressing a desire to expand their collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Minister of Education Naranbayar Purevsuren expressed gratitude for cooperating to implement this significant project, which aims to befriend children with books and promote the culture of parents and caregivers reading to their children.
The Minister stated that the "Let's Read Together" Project will continue and be supported, emphasizing its importance in improving children's reading comprehension skills at a time when these skills are needed.
According to the Ministry of Education of Mongolia, children should not wait until they enter school to learn to read; being close to books from birth plays a crucial role in their cognitive and social development. Regular reading time between parents and children fosters language development, literacy, focus, and memory, thereby preparing them for school.
