The Ministry of Education yesterday hosted a number of literacy tents at four venues in observance of International Literacy Day.
Tents were held at the Sophia Primary School, the National Park, St Stanislaus College and the Nismes Community Ground, West Bank Demerara. Students assembled at various tents to participate in drama and storytelling in keeping with the objectives of the initiative of creating an environment where students, teachers and parents can be involved in different types of reading-related activities.
At St Stanislaus College, secondary school students thronged tents where participants were engaged in impromptu speaking. Several also assembled at the tent featuring storytelling by local comedian Henry Rodney. Students were also encouraged to participate in tents equipped with educational games or to choose a book and spend time reading.
One of the project coordinators Lynette Browne-Moonsammy said while the aim was to promote literacy among students, they also incorporated speaking and pronunciation. She said one of the goals was to have students from all 33 secondary schools in Georgetown from Grades Seven to Nine (first to third form) participate in the event.
Meanwhile, over at the National Park, second-year nursery pupils from the Sophia, East Street, Selman Fraser and Turkeyen nursery schools were seen enjoying games such as Snakes and Ladders, which was being used to teach them to count. Others participated in an activity called “shared reading” where they were encouraged to look at pictures and tell stories while another group were paying rapt attention in a storytelling session.
This is the first year that literacy tents have been featured as part of the Literacy Day activities. This year’s observations were held under the theme ‘Literacy, key to good health and wellbeing’.
