National Library introduces reading club

Jan 16, 2011 News

– to help reduce illiteracy

Under the theme ‘When we read we learn’, a reading club, which will target children both in and out of school and by extension help boost the country’s literacy level, was launched on Friday at the National Library.
As a joint venture between the Library and the Ministry of Education, the programme comes as part of the recognition that reading is essential to the development of individuals and encourages progression in the society.
According to Deputy Chief Education Officer Development, Ms Bibi Alli, reading is recognised as a very essential skill for persons to have if they are to have truly fulfilling lives. “I am so happy to celebrate the launch of this book club and to share in this event which for me aims at highlighting the importance of learning in general…,” Alli said, as she presented the feature address at a simple ceremony to mark the launch.
Her presentation also saw her paying tribute to all Guyanese who have recognised that reading is in fact a necessity of life and have sought to ensure that reading is promoted. The National Library, she asserted, is one of the local entities that has fulfilled its mandate to improve literacy by going above and beyond to ensure that reading is embraced as a necessity.
“Because you are doing something about reading it means that you recognise how critical it is to survival. Today the world that we are living in it is changing at a pace that we could’ve never imagined.
“There are new discoveries, technologies, industries, partnerships, alliances, mobility, all kinds of changes and they all create the opportunity and requirements for reading skills. So we cannot survive in this world without reading skills.”
Alli asserted that “someone unable to read would really be lost in this modern world.”
She said that literacy is critical to prosperity, productivity, social fabric and success of any country as it contributes to the success of individuals and their sense of personal pride and fulfilment.
But although some individuals have been making remarkable strides to improve their education standing, Alli cautioned that Guyanese are not yet where they need to be. She lamented that many adults do not function at literacy levels adequate for today’s labour market.
Added to this, many children in the school system cannot read at a level required of them even as many out-of-school youths remain unable to read, a situation which has caused them to be dysfunctional members of the society.
“We do not want to be in this state so we have to really, really review what we are doing.” As such the Deputy Chief Education Officer said that the Ministry of Education has recognised how crucial literacy is to the development of individuals and the country as a whole.
According to her, it is recognised that solid literacy skills are crucial for success in the workplace, particularly in the internationally competitive knowledge-base economy. It is also recognised, Alli said, that literacy is associated with better health, greater community engagement and many other benefits and as such the Ministry is sparing no effort to improve literacy at the school level and beyond.
Accordingly, she noted that the Ministry has as one of its priorities in its Strategic Plan, the elimination of illiteracy.
For the past two years, she noted, that the Ministry has created literacy units, revealing that previously the curriculum unit had to oversee literacy programme, a design which had to be modified in recognition of how crucial literacy really is and how devastating individuals can be without it.
The Ministry has dedicated an entire unit in this regard through the Fast Track Literacy initiative, which was launched in 2008, in an effort to target youths both in and out of school.
“We cannot look at the children in the school alone if we are to look at the whole society…The Ministry is offering these programmes and even though some are out of school youths they don’t have to pay anything. This cost goes to the Ministry of Education…” Alli said.
The launching ceremony which attracted several educators and students bedecked in their uniform, was chaired by Petamber Persaud. It featured several entertaining dramatic pieces all of which were intended to emphasise the importance of literacy.
The affair culminated with the symbolic cutting of a ribbon to mark the official opening of the library’s reading club.

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National Library introduces reading club

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