Hadiza Shehu is in primary two in Wababe Primary School, Dange-Shuni local government area of Sokoto state.
She likes cooking and that is why she likes to read the Hausa book Mu Karanta! It has many pictures of food and she likes to point at them and name them with her sisters at home.
This is not the only reason why she likes her book. Her teacher also makes the lessons interesting in class. He makes them repeat what he says and teaches them songs. It is an excuse to dance in class; another thing she likes to do.
In the last month, exciting things have happened in her school. Classroom instructors are teaching pupils to read in Hausa and English. All the children in Primary 1 through 3 have reading textbooks.
“My teacher sings in class, he demonstrates what he is teaching us with examples, he asks us for our own ideas and he encourages us to do better,” Hadiza says.
She is now learning new sounds, forming words and gradually making sentences on her own with little help.
Buhari is pictured in white on the right.
Her classmate, Buhari Abubakar dropped out of school but when he heard children in his school were getting new books, he re-enrolled.
He is catching up fast. Barely few weeks into the early grade reading program in school, Buhari can read through lessons 1 through 4 in his Hausa reading book, pointing at each word and pronouncing it deliberately.
He starts to tell me a story using a picture showing Nana playing hopscotch with her friend while her grandmother watches.
Buhari’s books are starting to look worn-out, not from lack of care but from flipping through the pages repeatedly.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“My brother listens to me at home while I read. I enjoy learning new words,” he says.[/perfectpullquote]
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