WEALTH OF IDEAS

By Writers International Network Zimbabwe The Epworth Chapter of the Writers International Network Zimbabwe (WIN) received more than 100 books from Zimbabwe Reads on April 20 in support of the ongoing Epworth Community Outreach Programme. The outreach programme was launched in February this year in partnership with Global Arts Trust to assist aspiring writers, poets, actors, and encourage reading activities in the community. A chapter office was opened at the Epworth Home Industry to aid the outreach programme. Zimbabwe Reads, a collaborative effort of Zimbabweans and international friends who are encouraging a culture of reading by providing materials and access to information, has so far distributed reading material to partner organisations, schools and community libraries. The books, handed over to WIN Founder & Director Beaven Tapureta by Zimbabwe Reads representative Professor Jeffrey Wills, include different copies of ‘ The Write Idea!’ and ‘Writer’s Choic...

By Beaven Tapureta Zimbabwe Reads , collaborative effort between Zimbabweans and international friends aiming to create a reading culture in Zimbabwe, has published a report on the plummeting local reading culture. The report dispels the general excitement that has been going on about the high literacy rate (91.9%) which Zimbabwe enjoys ahead of other African countries. According to the report, this optimistic figure was provided a decade ago by UNESCO and the government, and it is unlikely that the same figure still stands today, given a number of factors that have come into play in the country since about 2005. Literacy rate is here used to mean the percentage of people over the age 15 who can read and write. Zimbabwe experienced deep economic and political crises in the last decade, a situation that has affected the education and relative sectors. According to the report, since 2005 the number of school dropouts increased due to pressure of school fees, the numb...