September is Education Month and September 8, International Literacy Day. The Ministry of Education has chosen as the theme for this year ‘Education of the Child: a Parent & Teacher Obligation.’ From experience, I would say that it is also the obligation of older siblings to ensure that their younger brothers and sisters are literate. Presents of books of poems and novels should be the order of the day.
A fast-track literacy programme is being implemented with various non-governmental organizations, trade unions and the regional administrations to reach out to persons outside the formal school system wishing to develop their reading skills. I regard it as a corporate social responsibility. We should not have any office assistant being unable to read the address on an envelope that he has to deliver.
The ministry is also placing emphasis on the development of school libraries and reading corners that allow most, if not all schools to provide children with access to reference books and supplementary reading material.
The Chief Education Officer (ag) states that 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 Guyana Consumers Association has something to say:
The Guyana Consumers Association welcomes the launching of Education Month with the focus being on ‘literacy.’ Just under a generation ago, Guyana had the great reputation of being one of the few countries in the world with an almost 100 per cent literacy rate. It had a literacy rate higher than all of South America and North America as well. And this was evidenced by the fact that in whatever foreign countries Guyanese lived or studied, they were always outstanding. We now have to re-possess an inheritance we have lost.
Literacy is an absolute necessity for a richer and more productive life. It is the basis of getting information, it is the basis of getting a better job and of doing one’s job better and improving one’s economic condition. It is the key to opening the doors to the world’s great treasure houses of culture and happiness, and it is the basis of getting self- respect and the respect of others.
Then the responsibility of recapturing one’s inheritance of literacy lies in the hands of the schools and of the home. The schools and teachers must instil in pupils the values and joys of reading and writing. They can use several techniques to achieve this goal. Indeed, in the teacher-training institutions, a special module should be introduced as to the methods of arousing and maintaining the interests of parents and children in reading. And in this regard, we call upon the Education authorities to seriously consider doing this.
Parents must be regularly reminded or educated as to the value of having their children being able to read. The economic and social values of literacy should be stressed. This task of educating parents as to the value of literacy for their children should be the responsibility of Parent/ Teachers Associations and other community-based bodies such as the religious organizations – Hindu, Muslim and Christian.
It is hoped and expected that this month will see the intensification of literacy activities and that it will mark the beginning of a continuous process.
