Reading to children has a great role in child development…says Education Ministry Special Advisor

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – “READING to children has a great role in child development.” So says Special Advisor to Minister of Education Christine Springette.

Speaking at the recent launch of the ‘Reading Starts with Us’ project at the old St. John’s Primary School, Springette said the benefits would be enormous if parents could commit to reading everyday to pre-school and early age children.

According to Springette: “Our standard of living has improved dramatically over the last 10 or 15 years; employment before Hurricane Omar and the closure of the Four Seasons Hotel was 100 percent, yet we are having a problem where, according to the 2001 Survey of Living Conditions in Nevis, 40 percent of high school students left school without the required certification and unable to meet the demands of the labour market.”

She said under-achievement was linked to the low literacy levels: “Thirty percent of primary school students experienced difficulty in reading. We are still worried that a number of our children cannot.”

The Special Advisor said there was a time when Nevisians were not as worried about literacy on the island as now: “For the most part, everybody could have read. Many persons did not attend school as regularly as they do now, yet they did know to read and write.”

The projects is organised by the Nevis Library Service (NLS) and the St. John’s Community Improvement Club (SJCIC), and Springette said it would make parents aware of the importance of early literacy and how to use books in their children’s lives.
“A love of books will ensure literacy, and we thank the Library Service for that.”

Springette said the Nevis Island Administration stands firmly behind the initiative and any that is intended to ensure that all people – children and adults alike – are able to read. 

“The NIA, under the leadership of Premier Joseph Parry, has in its manifesto…and for that matter has made it its hallmark remark to declare that education is this government’s priority. You have heard them say education is first, education is second and education is third on the government’s agenda.” 

Springette encouraged parents to stick with the programme and to encourage others to take advantage of the opportunity to help the children to do well at school:  “You will be surprised at the benefits you will get from this programme.” 

The project is sponsored by the Australian High Commission.