The companies are supporting the campaign “Lesestart – Die Leseinitiative für Deutschland” (Learning to read – a reading initiative for Germany) with ideas and financial capital. The programme will be launched nationwide in 2008, shortly after Drupa.
The German Machinery and Plant Manufacturers Association (VDMA) president, Dr Dieter Brucklacher says results of a 2003 PISA study on literacy were alarming for companies in Germany, “and we are prepared to give support at all levels. But at the same time we urge those politically responsible to adopt new and better methods.”
The study showed that two-thirds of all parents don’t read to their children and 20% of all 15-year-olds were standing on the threshold of secondary illiteracy.
Under the literacy programme, 500,000 one-year-old children and their parents will receive the free “Lesestart” material from paediatricians.
The initiative is based on experience from England and a three-year model project of the Free State of Saxony together with “Stiftung Lesen” that has just started.
The idea is to enrol toddlers and their parents who come for paediatric checkups. They are given a free, multi-component “Lesestart”-kit to firmly establish reading.
“Lesestart” initiators create a modern early-reading culture and make an important contribution to fostering children’s intellectual and cultural development, strengthening Germany’s position as a business location over the long term, Dr Brucklacher says.
