Literacy

The decline in young people's literacy has raised concerns among adults. To address this concern, Riihimäki is launching the "Permission to Read" policy in its upper secondary schools, schools and kindergartens.

Permission to Read Policy

According to the "Permission to Read" policy, children and young people are allowed to read for at least 10 minutes every day at 10 a.m. In daycare centers, staff read to children, while in basic education and upper secondary schools, teachers and students immerse themselves in their own books. You can read either fiction or non-fiction. The idea originated in upper secondary schools. Upper secondary school principal Kari Jukarainen got the idea from a fellow principal, whose upper secondary school starts the mornings with a reading period. The practice also found its way to Riihimäki Upper Secondary School.

Literacy work is promoted in early childhood education, primary education and upper secondary education in many different ways. Schools have, for example, reading grandmas and grandpas, reading festivals, reading flashes and author visits. The task of the city's internal literacy network is to spread literacy development practices that have been proven to be effective in units throughout the city.

City Literacy Network

A literacy network has been established for the city. It includes representatives from early childhood education, basic education, upper secondary school and the library. The network aims to promote a reading lifestyle and literacy skills throughout the city in close cooperation. The first development measure of the literacy network is the Permission to Read policy.

The literacy network also wants to inspire homes to work on literacy. The network encourages adults to read together with children and young people at home. Reading aloud is a valuable time together and it is also important for children and young people to show an adult reading model. It would be great if we could read together at home for at least 10 minutes every day.

National Literacy Strategy and Literacy Program

The establishment of a literacy network and the Permission to Read operating model are the city's way of implementing national literacy strategy and responsible for strategy implementation The Finnish National Board of Education's literacy programThe literacy strategy states that Finland is a top country in terms of literacy in international comparisons, but at the national level, the decline in literacy in the 2000s has raised concerns about the future of literacy. The aim of the national literacy strategy is to find ways to strengthen the literacy skills of children, young people and adults who are particularly poor readers.

The literacy strategy has three guidelines for developing literacy:

• Creating and strengthening literacy work structures,
• Strengthening multi-literacy skills and
• We encourage reading and diversify reading skills.

Multiliteracy

The literacy network also focuses on the development of multi-literacy skills in Riihimäki early childhood education, basic education and upper secondary school. The texts that children and young people encounter are often digital and very diverse. According to the national literacy strategy, reading and producing texts requires multi-literacy skills, i.e. the ability to read, understand and interpret, as well as write and produce diverse texts in different environments using different media.