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International Literacy Day observed with great enthusiasm
Henry Rodney captivates his audience with a dramatic poem
Saint Stanislaus College was a hive of literacy-related activity as part of the plans to observe International Literacy Day yesterday, and in keeping with the observance of Education Month.
September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17th, 1965, but it was not until 1966 that it was first observed.
The aim of the occasion is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.
Each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and learning globally.
According to Ms Myra Pierre-Moore, a representative of the Department of Education, Saint Stanislaus College was selected as the venue to set up reading tents and to engage other activities for secondary level students.
Similar ventures were also conducted at the Sophia Primary School, mainly for primary school-aged students, and at the National Park tarmac for kindergarten students.
A reading tent was also slated to be set up at the Nismes Community Centre Ground, which was intended to serve as the venue for all reading activities in Region Three, even as the other regions hosted similar sessions, all aimed at promoting the act of reading.
The activities at Saint Stanislaus were, however, divided into sections which included an impromptu tent where students were given the opportunity to push their hands into a bag and retrieve a topic with a view of delivering a speech.
And then there was the dramatic poetry tent which was ably manned by popular playwright and teacher Henry Rodney.
Rodney, in acting mode, rendered poetic renditions one after another, captivating the attention of the students in the vicinity.
But just as enthralling as Rodney’s contribution was the literacy fishing game, Pierre-Moore said.
This activity saw the children, armed with fishing hooks, attempting to catch imitation fish to which complete words or parts of words were affixed.
The aim of the fishing segment, she said, was to test the students’ ability to speak impromptu on words (as soon as they were withdrawn) and to complete partial words.
This venture, which saw the eruption of much enthusiasm, allowed students to be awarded for every successful attempt, according to Pierre-Moore.
Yesterday’s activities also saw the ministry collaborating with other agencies, including the Reading and Research Centre which provided a display of reading materials for every age group.
In using the theme of Education Month, ‘Education: a parent and teacher obligation’, Pierre-Moore said that the various activities were intended to encourage parents and teachers to read with children.
She opined, though, that there was limited attendance of parents.
According to Coordinator of the Distance Education and Information Unit, Pauline Stanford, emphasis on literacy is a crucial undertaking since it represents the hallmark of life, and hence the basis on which an individual, and by extension a country, is developed.
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