Campaign to improve literacy among the youths

If you were in the main arteries of the old capital today, you would have seen hundreds of children parading to celebrate the International Day of Literacy. The event took added importance in Belize because the literacy rate has declined in recent years. The Ministry of Education launched its Literacy Campaign for 2010, which analyzes literacy from the preschool to high school levels; thirty-three schools in all. The literacy carnival, as it is called, is being celebrated with the theme “Quality Schools Promoting Literacy for a Better Belize”. The Parade started from the Yabra Green and ended at the Memorial Park with a mini fair. According to the organizers, the carnival is a simple way to promote an important message.

Rose Bradley, Literacy Coordinator, Ministry of Education

rose bradley

“We’re launching our campaign to get more of our students reading and writing because we know that literacy is very, very important. If they can’t read and write that’s going to affect their academic achievement right across the board.”

Delahnie Bain

“And you decided to kick it off with a parade. Why is that?”

Rose Bradley

“Well, as you can just see, the children just enjoy that. They love the music and it’s a fun way to get that message across. Today is International Literacy Day so we wanted to make it a big celebration as well.”

Delahnie Bain

“And the parade heads to Memorial Park where you’ll be having a fair?”

Rose Bradley

“Yeah, we will be having a fair where we will give some refreshments to the kids, we’ll have food on sale but more importantly we have some writers reading to the children, we have the library out there, we some other booths and so on.”

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education and Youth

patrick faber

“In years gone by we used to be able to boast a very high literacy rate and that has deteriorated significantly and it has effects on all other things that are happening in our society. So we are excited that we are able to do this launch today. We urge all parents, all librarians, all people out there who have a stake who can help us in making sure our literacy rate goes up to do their parts, especially parents.”

Delahnie Bain

“What else do you have planned for these young people during the campaign?”

Patrick Faber

“There’s a series of events. The Literacy Unit of the Ministry of Education has really put together a fantastic plan, including early diagnostic testing so we are able to capture when children are not reading properly from a very early stage, also including various different strategies that the teachers are trained for.”