Education

Oxford University Press in South Africa – Every Child Deserves a Dictionary!

April 26, 2019

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Oxford Dictionary South Africa — Oxford University Press Southern Africa’s ‘Every Child Deserves a Dictionary’ campaign aims to equip 20,000 South African learners with a dictionary this year. Picture courtesy of www.magna-carta.co.za

Written by Veronika Bradley, Editor for Children’s Health and Safety Association – April 27, 2015 and Republished by Diligencia Investigative Reporting – April 2019

Oxford University Press Southern Africa (OUPSA) has launched their flagship centenary campaign in celebration of 100 years of dedication to education.

The goal of OUPSA’s initiative is to supply 20,000 dictionaries to schools across South Africa, “…to create awareness of the power of knowledge, the value of education and the importance of giving our learners the chance to fully realize their own potential,” says Steve Cilliers, Managing Director of Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

During the first stage of the campaign 10,000 dictionaries were distributed to schools in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State, Gauteng and Western Cape and during the second stage, dictionaries will be donated to KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Northern Cape. Additional books will be dispatched to the remaining provinces during the course of the year.

“We call on the public to get behind the initiative and to show their support through our ‘Every Child Deserves a Dictionary’ campaign,” says Steve Cilliers.

Make a pledge now!

Each click = 1 dictionary

There are no costs involved. Each pledge will result in one dictionary donated to a school facilitated by Adopt-a-School Foundation.

“This campaign is not just about giving something back to the learners of South Africa; it is fundamentally about the value of words, literacy and books,” says Cilliers.

Education is the key to social transformation in South Africa and a way to unlock opportunities for the youth of the country.”

Established in South Africa in 1915, OUPSA is a leading publisher of educational material for schools and renowned for its dictionaries and excellent literacy material. The Oxford South African School Dictionary was developed in consultation with a range of South African teachers and language experts.

“Children need dictionaries that will excite and engage them, while developing crucial reference and language skills to enable them to succeed at school. Our wide range of English, bilingual, multilingual and subject dictionaries offer children what school trials have shown works best.” ~, excerpt from Oxford University Press South Africa.

Follow the campaign on social media using the hashtag #EveryChild, on Twitter @OxfordSAHE and @OxfordSASchools and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxfordSAHE and www.facebook.com/OxfordSASchools.

Every child deserves a gift of words. You can be part of this most noble and marvellous endeavour. Do the right thing for all the right reasons. Make a pledge now!