Literacy Key For Education System To Become No. 1

With Government having set its education system the goal of being number one in the world within seven years, Minister of Educational Transformation, Chad Blackman, believes it can be achieved with literacy at the forefront.

This was underscored yesterday as he addressed the opening ceremony for the seventh year of The Babb’s Reading Clinic five-week programme, held at the Barbados Community College, The ‘Eyrie’, St. Michael. It targets boys and runs until August 15 at that venue.

Emphasising the importance of reading to achieving the country’s goal, Minister Blackman said: “We’ve set the bold ambition, as a ministry and as a government, to have the number one education system, anywhere in the world, within seven years. But for us to do so, it means that we have to relook, review, retool, and reimagine that system, that we’ve had as an independent society and now as a Republic, in a way that allows us to be relevant in a time when the world continues to change at a rapid pace.

“And the world in which you’re now going into as young people, is not the same world when I left school about 25 or 26 years ago, but equally, you still have that responsibility to be prepared for it, and we have to help you to prepare for it. But in order for all those big changes to happen, some of the fundamentals have to be harnessed even further, and reading is one of them.”

Founder and coordinator, Dr. Astra Babb, was commended by the Minister for her “sterling work” with the Clinic, and he used the occasion to encourage the creation of more reading programmes and for parents and others to assist the island’s children.

“Not just Government, not just Dr. Babb and her initiative; but that the country, itself, becomes a natural ecosystem of learning and reading and ensuring that those who need the support can get it,” Minister Blackman said, adding that over the years, and in particular the last academic year, Government ensured the availability of reading programmes within primary and secondary schools.

Noting that blame could not be apportioned to any one entity for the fall in literacy levels, he stressed: “Our society is made up of different opportunities but equally they are made up of different challenges and those challenges require all of us, as an ecosystem to hold our part, as government, parents, schools, teachers, aunties, uncles, financial support, [and the ] private sector, to ensure that every single child born in this country, or moves to this country and passes through our education system, has the necessary tools for support.

“And that is why these interventions are so key…. There are many parents who try their utmost, but they don’t necessarily have within their personal means, the resources or the training, sometimes, or the know-how, to ensure that their child… has the tools to be able to do that. And that’s why, Government…working with [the] private sector, parents, non-governmental organisations, [and] charities must ensure that we can make it right for our children.”

The boys were told that to unlock their potential and maximise it, they must be able to read to achieve several tasks, including reading documents, restaurant menus, instructions, and coding. 

“Reading also allows for you to have a level of self-confidence that you can go anywhere in the world, as a young Barbadian child, and to command respect because you have the ability to read,” Mr. Blackman added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Babb, who noted the summer clinic targets boys nine to 15 years old, said enrolment reached a record high this year with 130 boys; a 62 per cent increase over last year’s 80. 

She said, “…Parents seem to be becoming more aware of the deficiencies in their children, and they are more resolute in getting them the help they need. Also, some parents may have started to realise that due to the work situation in the world, their children will have no chance of earning a decent living if they can’t read.”

The reading clinic comprises children from 17 schools across Barbados, but most of the children are drawn from primary schools. The objective of the summer camp is to assist each boy in proving his word decoding ability and his word recognition skills by utilising methodologies such as phonics, paying attention to prefixes and suffixes, and syllabication.

They will be guided by trained professionals who will also place emphasis on comprehension strategies such as identifying the main idea in a story and examining text structure to determine cause and effect and sequences. 

Dr. Babb, while thanking her dedicated sponsors, revealed that in addition to the summer reading clinic for boys, a second session would be held every Saturday, from September 13 to November 29, completely free to both boys and girls. (PR/GIS)

CAPTION: Minister of Educational Transformation, Chad Blackman, addressing the opening ceremony of the seventh year of The Babb’s Reading Clinic five-week programme, held at the Barbados Community College yesterday.