September is National Literacy Month📚🇿🇦. Today, we launch National Book Week in the Umkhanyakude District in KZN. In partnership with AVBOB, we will be handing over reading resources to two schools in the district, including a container library with 4000 books, and two trolley libraries containing 500 books each, in order to give learners better access to books. Access to books helps build a culture of reading and strengthens literacy skills children need to succeed from an early age. #StrongFoundationsStrongFutures #NBW2026

After visiting schools across South Africa and abroad, I have become even more convinced of one simple truth: there can be no quality education system without quality teachers. Teachers restore hope to families, break cycles of poverty, and show young people that their future is not determined by their circumstances. They are not only educators. They are merchants of hope.

This afternoon I began my engagements at the @TheEWF , the largest gathering of Education Ministers in the world. I participated in the Cambridge University Ministerial Dialogue on “The Leadership Effect: Forging Talent for Africa’s Growth”. I shared South Africa’s focus on building Strong Foundations for Strong Futures to unlock opportunity, skills and prosperity for every child. 🇿🇦📚

Today, on World Book and Copyright Day, we celebrate the power of books to connect generations, cultures and widen one’s imagination. Reading is the foundation of all learning. When we strengthen literacy from the earliest years, we give children the tools to think critically, imagine boldly and succeed in school and in life. Books open minds, widen horizons and unlock possibility. That is why building a nation of readers must start early, and it must involve all of us; parents, caregivers, teachers and communities alike. Let us continue to place books in the hands of children and nurture a love of reading, one book, one child and one story at a time. #WorldBookandCopyrightDay