School
Photo Credit: Manor Gardens Primary School

Manor Gardens Primary School, a government school in Durban, has been selected to represent South Africa at the Kids Lit Quiz in New Zealand.

 

Durban, South Africa (06 March 2023) – Four talented young minds have their sights set on representing South Africa at The Kids Lit Quiz, also known as the “Olympics of Reading”, in New Zealand. The Manor Gardens Primary School took part in the Durban leg of the competition and their top team earned the top spot.

The Kids Lit Quiz is open to children between the ages of 10 and 13. Quizzes are held in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the USA. Each country hosts regional legs of the competition before finals which are being hosted by New Zealand this year. The aim is to turn the love of reading, into a sport, thus promoting literacy to the youth.

The Durban heat took place in mid-February and Manor Gardens Primary School’s first team, known as “Ama Boeke Boeke” won the top spot. The team of four young ladies were over the moon with their win.

The primary school is a government school and so funding for competitions like this can be tough. The school set up a crowdfund to get the four young ladies along with two support staff, to New Zealand. They only need to cover the costs of travel as the event covers the rest.

They are hoping to raise R250,000 and supporters have already helped them raise R66,000 towards the goal.

“This tiny school just doesn’t have the budget to send four kids to the other side of the world. The school fundraises year-round just to maintain the excellent resources they have. The parents and school community are hugely generous but there’s a limit to how much they are able to give. So we are spreading the net wider.

The Kids Lit Quiz organization covers accommodation, meals and activities for the teams but transport to the World Final is not covered. We are gratefully accepting any and all donations to cover the travelling costs for the four team members and two adult coaches.”

The school believes in investing in reading and literacy, especially in South Africa where literacy is so limited. Having won the final in 2011, they have seen first-hand how winning a competition like this, inspires all the pupils at the school to read more.

“South Africa lags behind in getting kids reading and developing a lifelong love of books. The Kids Lit Quiz was developed as one way to address this worldwide problem. Back in 2011, a Manor Gardens team was the first South African team to ever win a Kids Lit Quiz World final and it had an electrifying effect.

Kids who were just entering school and couldn’t even read yet were ambitious to become champions; book donations flooded into the school from people who knew they would be put to good use and the school was able to secure a grant to build a new, modern library and media centre. Manor Gardens Primary school became involved in wider literacy initiatives in neighbouring schools, helping them to stock their libraries and create a buzz around reading. It didn’t just benefit four kids, it started a mini revolution that’s benefitted hundreds and continues to reap the benefits.”

If you would like to support the young ladies with their goal of getting to New Zealand, you can do so here. The last time they won, they were also in New Zealand. Two other schools have won, making South Africa a three-time winner. Can we make it a fourth?

This will be the first competition since the global Lockdown. It is set to take place on Saturday 22nd July 2023.


Sources: BackaBuddy / iol / KLQ
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About the Author

Tyler Leigh Vivier is a writer for Good Things Guy.

Her passion is to spread good news across South Africa with a big focus on environmental issues, animal welfare and social upliftment. Outside of Good Things Guy, she is an avid reader and lover of tea.

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