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Young students at Endagile Primary School in rural Tanzania love going to school so they can read books, their teacher says.

As part of the Let’s Read project, So They Can Tanzania recently donated  a set of 123 books to the school’s mobile library for students in Standard one and two.  This is the second set of books received by the school, books are rotated between schools every six months to ensure a steady supply of new books for the students to enjoy.

Standard two teacher Catherine Edmund says it is difficult to teach without books.

“Teaching and learning process for the pupils of standard one and two now is simplified at schools due to the presence of library activities under the Let’s Read project,” she says.

Catherine says students enjoy reading, and they are more likely to attend school every day and spend the whole day at school when they have access to story books.

She says reading encourages’ pupils’ curiosity, and they ask her questions about the stories and pictures they have seen in the books.

Many schools in rural Tanzania do not have libraries or story books, and have few textbooks. So They Can works with its partner schools to build up resources that help children achieve higher and more meaningful education.

Since starting the Let’s Read project at Endagile Primary School in January 2019, attendance rates have climbed from 89 percent to 93 percent in the Standard One class, and from 88 percent to 92 percent in Standard Two.