BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COLOURFUL balloons were released into the sky by excited children to mark the beginning of the Maurice Hillier Primary School’s No TV Week.
The event, which is in its 11th year, encourages children to refrain from watching the television for an entire week and to focus on other developmental activities.
This year, according to the Principal of the School, Icilma Springer, they would be focusing on Character Building.
Yesterday (May 9), the contestants of the Rainbow Pageant which will be held on Thursday evening (May 12) unveiled the pillars of characters - Citizenship, Caring, Fairness, Responsibility, Respect and Trustworthiness.
“We feel that this Character Building focus will make a change in the life of our school and then eventually the life of our nation,” said the principal.
She mentioned that a of fun activities are planned for the week starting with yesterday’s Hats off to Characters, while today is Character Sneakers Day, tomorrow would be Character Dress-Up Day, Thursday the Rainbow Pageant would be held at Carnival City at 7:00 p.m. and on Friday they would parade through the streets of Basseterre.
The parade will feature the students bearing placard and donning T-shirts that encourage no television and to focus on other activities, while some will be dressed as characters.
Springer said that during the march the public would be sensitised about Character Building and other activities and also how they could be a part of the venture.
She said that parents still need to take an active role in ensuring their children do not watch the television during the week.
“We’re not getting the numbers. The parents could educate and read to them instead of focusing on the TV because reading is key. If you can’t read you wouldn’t be able to function in this world,” she said.
The paint used for the Pillars of Characters at the school was donated by the Rotary Club of Liamuiga.
President of the club Eustace Warner said they were pleased to be a part of the week and that the characters chosen were essential to the building of characters.
“I think they are very important in character building and I commend the school very much for undertaking this responsibility in addition to their No TV Week of activities, and the Rotary is very proud to be a part of this,” he said.
Warner declared that they are involved with youth programmes in the schools in terms of a talent search and spelling bee competition.
“These are two major projects that involved in schools and help with character building and mind development. So we’re thankful they called upon us to be a part of this,” he added.
