Worldreader

“My message is I know Malawians are passing through difficult times, but I know why. When you come into office in a country as poor as Malawi, you must close all loopholes, protect all that belongs to Malawians and ensure you make friends with those that can assist you. Listen to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and donors for the benefit of those you serve.”

Where tech can bridge the literacy gap

It’s a tale as old as time - children in lower-income families are less likely to have access to books in the home, less likely to be read to by the adults who care for them, and have lower levels of literacy as a result. There’s the bonus concern that boys can be particularly difficult to coax into the habit of reading. And the one thing most likely to solve those challenges - parents and caregivers reading regularly with children - is precisely the solution many lower-income households aren’t able to provide. So, what to do?

Alongside the UK’s National Literacy Trust, we’ve just published a report that shows that three in ten children in low income families are more likely to read for longer when using technology, with or without an adult helping them. Twice as many boys as girls will keep reading for longer via digital platforms. That should certainly give us an ‘in’ with some of the lower-income children whose parents, for a variety of reasons, don’t get to spend as much time supporting healthy reading habits as tends to happen in higher-income homes. And over in the US, Stanford researchers have been busy investigating how using text messages to share reading reminders and literacy tips with the parents of kids in lower-income households might be another tool in bridging the 'word gap.’

Technology can’t possibly replace the role of the parent in this literacy puzzle - and just having access to reading materials is of course fundamental - but it’s heartening to note that it really can help.