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Education Secretary Angela Constance has announced funding of £2.7 million for pre-school programmes to improve literacy in children.

Bookbug, which aims to encourage reading from an early age, will receive increased funding of £1.7 million and the PlayTalkRead campaign has been allocated a further £1 million.

Bookbug is run by the Scottish Book Trust and funded by the Scottish Government. It aims to lay the foundations of early literacy, improve communication skills, highlight the importance of books and the benefits of early book sharing.

PlayTalkRead encourages parents and carers to play, talk and read with their young children every day to help them develop essential skills to encourage learning throughout their lives. Last year the campaign reached a record number of families.

PlayTalkRead copyThe Cabinet Secretary confirmed the funding during a visit to a Bookbug session in Edinburgh. She said:

“Improving literacy in our children and young people is a key priority for this Government and we know that learning begins long before school. Parents and carers play a vital part in nurturing a sense of curiosity, discovery and learning-by-play at home, developing critical pre-school skills like speaking and developing a love of books.

“I’ve seen how the PlayTalkRead buses and website offer practical support and fun ideas for parents and carers on how to help their child’s development and I’m pleased we can continue to build on the campaign’s success to reach more families across Scotland.

“I know the importance of introducing children to books at an early age and that’s exactly what the Bookbug programme aims to do.”

Marc Lambert, Director of Scottish Book Trust added:

“Sharing a book with your child on a regular basis, from as early an age as possible, is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to make a real difference to their future. The rhythm of your voice and the speech patterns of stories and rhymes help children to lay strong foundations for later language development. The expansion of our Bookbug programme will enable us to deepen our work with schools, achieve a greater level of parental engagement and continue providing free books for children and families across the country via our Bookbug Bags and free Bookbug Sessions in public libraries.”

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