Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – On the nationwide reading day, two ministers from Saxony-Anhalt also read books with stories for children at schools. Minister of Justice Franziska Weidinger (CDU) read from the ballad “Die Vergeltung” by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff to pupils of the V Oschersleben secondary school on Friday, as a ministry spokesman announced.
According to the ministry, Education Minister Eva Feußner (CDU) read from the book “The Smart Little Elephant” at a Magdeburg elementary school. The book underlines the motto of this year’s reading day “Unique together”, Feußner explained her book selection. In the story about a little elephant, which was specially designed for children, the themes of differences, uniqueness and connectedness are also addressed.
Local politicians also read in schools, daycare centers or health centers in numerous other municipalities such as Weißenfels (Burgenlandkreis) or Wanzleben (Börde).
The Reading Day is an initiative in which the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, the Reading Foundation and the Deutsche Bahn Foundation are involved. Since 2004, this has been a sign of the importance of reading aloud every year in November. The IQB education trend had recently identified significant weaknesses in reading skills in many fourth graders.