Soneike High School situated in the Highbury area of Cape Town was the proud recipient of three stunning mobile libraries sponsored by the commercial printing and manufacturing giant, Novus Holdings. These innovative mobile libraries can be wheeled from one classroom to another, making the reading material easily accessible to all learners.
The launch of the mobile libraries at Soneike High was also attended by various representatives of the Department of Education and the Department of Basic Education. The Department of Basic Educationâs Director for Partnerships in Education, Mr. Louis Taylor, praised Novus Holdings for this initiative and urged all South Africans to come on board.
Mrs. Ronel Baker, the principal at Soneike High, and her staff are deeply passionate about reading and have ensured that this âreading bugâ be passed on to the school learners. Every morning the school implements a twenty-minute period in which all learners are required to enjoy quiet reading time. About two months ago, Mrs. Baker made an impassioned plea to Novus Holdings with a request for reading resources. The Group had no hesitation in granting this request as it understands the importance and power of creating a reading culture amongst the youth. Ronel also stated that the donation has had an immensely positive impact on the learners as they are more equipped with more digital skills in their repertoire and that effect also mirrors the teachers as well. The principal also said the school is the biggest school in the district and is the feeder for other schools in the district and it also caters for foreign learners from neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Mozambique just to name a few.The school is also part of the Symphonia for SA which is an NPO which aims to a lot of quality education for all children in SA by the year 2025 ensuring projects like these don’t become white elephants.
Novus group human resources director Nico Grobbelaar when contacted by Social Tv said their array of CSI/CSR undertakings focus primarily on literacy because as a stupendous printing company in SA it is critical that they encourage people to read and place themselves adjacent to eradicating the information and illiteracy gap that still exists in society. Nico also eluded that sustainability is imperative in their outreach programs, as such this mobile library will be constantly visited by an education specialist who will conduct constant checks in the form of audits on both teachers and learners to determine the impact the mobile library has had on the school at large.
