But I'm sure they weren't as delighted as the residents of one African village when a small boy read by himself for the first time.
The video of that moment, shown below, was played at last week's Skoll World Forum and when I saw it, I got goose bumps.
The young chap was a recipient of support from the Community Empowerment Program, an initiative of not-for-profit Senegal-based organisation Tostan. The scheme encourages parents and other community members to create an environment for children’s development in a country where research has shown that certain social norms and traditional practices can hinder the brain development of infants.
Teaching a child to read is a simple but hugely powerful achievement. It opens up a world of possibilities and the community's delight in the video below illustrates that.
Wonderful stuff.
