As Education Month begins, the focus is on literacy and the Ministry of Education says that it has taken specific initiatives to improve literacy skills.
In this regard, a fast-track literacy programme aimed at specific target groups, including poor performers in primary schools, out-of-school youths and the general adult population has been introduced across the country.
In a special feature in Sunday newspapers, it was stated that the fast-track literacy programme is being executed in collaboration with various non-governmental organisations, trade unions and the regional administration to reach out to persons outside the formal school system who wish to develop their reading skills.
Apart from this programme, the ministry is also placing emphasis on the development of school libraries and ‘reading corners’ that allow most if not all schools to be able to provide children with access to reference books and supplementary reading materials. Parents can support the fast-track literacy programme by encouraging membership of public libraries and by creating their own libraries and ‘reading corners’ in their homes, the ministry said.
It noted that a significant part of this year’s programme to mark Education Month will be the creation of reading tents designed to create an environment in which parents, children and teachers will be involved in various types of reading-related activities. “The whole idea is to seek to create a culture of reading across the country aimed at equipping people to access information, to make themselves more marketable and to enhance their self-esteem,” the ministry stated.
In indicating what parents can do to help their children succeed in school, the ministry pointed out that apart from the obvious physical and material support and moral guidance necessary, supporting the child’s education may begin with simply ensuring the creation of a home environment in which time and space are provided in which children can apply themselves to diligent and effective study.
It added that while most homes in Guyana may possess no actual areas designed specifically for study, living rooms and other areas can for specific periods be dedicated to study. “In this regard it is important that the physical environment is facilitated by adequate lighting, appropriate furnishing and the absence of distractions including music and television. The presence of books (many homes have small libraries) can actually help to create an environment that encourages children to focus on their studies,” the ministry said.
It added that parents should designate study times in much the same way that periods are set aside for rest and play.
It said too that setting aside time to work with children is a critical aspect of parental support for children’s education. Apart from the actual help that parents can provide in ensuring that school assignments are completed, there is also the factor of the additional motivation afforded children by the knowledge that their parents are interested in what they do. Many parents and children actually learn together through this process.
“Perhaps the most crucial contribution that parents can make to their children’s education is in the provision of a stable home that ensures the emotional stability of the child. Distractions resulting from domestic instability, quarrels and physical violence inhibit the intellectual development of the child since these inevitably serve as distractions from the goal of applying themselves to learning,” the education ministry declared. Meanwhile, it was noted that in the past weeks the ministry had received a gift of books worth over $5 million from the Guyana Consulate in New York, which comprise gifts from various publishers in the United States and Guyanese in the Diaspora.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh said the books will be used to support the ministry’s countrywide literacy and numeracy programmes. The books also cover subject areas including science and social studies.
It was also noted that United Kingdom-based Guyanese-born publisher Arif Ali has donated a number of books to be used as prizes in some of the reading competitions that will be staged as part of the education ministry’s programme of activities to mark Education Month.
