Doha: ‘Kids Read’, a programme sponsored by HSBC Bank and developed by the British Council, is being held for the fourth year in Doha. The programme is continuing its drive to encourage children and their families to read for pleasure, in English, and this year it has added eight schools across the country; taking the total in Qatar to 24 participating schools.
Since the start of the programme in 2011, ‘Kids Read’ has reached approximately 50,000 children and directly engaged with 1,000 teachers across twelve countries in the Mena region. Over 17,000 story books have been donated to schools to either start an English section in their library or to complement an existing collection and 150 family events have been held for children and parents to share the benefits of reading.
Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi, CEO of HSBC in Qatar said: “There is a saying that children who read become adults who think. With our investment in the Kids Read programme, we have been cultivating young minds to be great thinkers and leaders in the future. As part of HSBC’s corporate sustainability vision we recognise our responsibility to invest in the communities in which we operate and Kids Read has successfully contributed to this investment over the past three years.”
The well-known children’s author, storyteller and performer Julia Johnson visited a number of countries across the Mena region to kick off the new Kids Read academic year. During her visit to Maymouna Independent Primary School for Girls in Qatar, she shared her popular stories and experiences with children, teachers and parents through storytelling sessions and teacher training workshops.
Martin Hope, Director of the British Council Qatar said: “We are delighted to be working with HSBC again to provide young Qataris and their families with the opportunity to read more inside and outside their classrooms. Together we are committed to providing high quality resources and training to help children learn to read well as numerous studies show that strong readers outperform their peers in terms of exam results and their future career”.
The Peninsua
