No nation seriously affected by illiteracy can make progress
– Minister Baksh
GUYANA joins with the rest of the world in observing International Literacy Day 2011 today under the theme ‘Literacy and Peace’ and on the eve of the observance, Education Minister Shaik Baksh said persons should work collectively to eliminate illiteracy countrywide, adding to national development.
“Let us reaffirm our commitment to work collectively to eliminate illiteracy and to use education as a tool to engender a more a harmonious and progressive Guyana,” he appealed.
Mr. Baksh said literacy is the key that unlocks the door to life-long learning, a vital means to forge understanding, peace, tolerance and respect among people of diverse backgrounds and the bridge from misery to hope.
He declared: “No nation could make any meaningful progress with a population seriously affected by the scourge of illiteracy. Peace and literacy are interdependent and indivisible and each require the other for national development to thrive.”
Baksh said these are the vanguard for the propagation of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to bring about behavioural changes that will enable our children, youth and adults to realise their full potential.
The minister said, despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target and strategies are being implemented to tackle the issue.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNSECO), some 796 million adults lack minimum literacy skills, which means that about one in six adults is still not literate; 67.4 million children are out of school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.
Baksh said: ”Here, in Guyana, literacy is the heart of the Ministry of Education current Strategic Plan and its overarching importance is amply reflected in our mission to eliminate illiteracy, modernise education and strengthen tolerance.”
He noted that, within the school system, thousands of teachers have been trained and continue to be trained to effectively deliver the literacy instructional programme.

Raise standards

The National Literacy Unit has been maintaining constant, focused programmes, to raise literacy standards at all levels of the education system and the workforce.
Strong emphasis is also being placed on literacy and numeracy at all technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and, to date, these programmes have recorded encouraging results, he informed.
According to him, more recently, during the July/August vacation, some 20,000 children, both at the primary and secondary levels, benefited from a national remediation programme designed to correct their weaknesses in the areas of literacy and numeracy.
The minister said the competency-based approach to education is supported by critical assessments at Grades Two and Four of the primary level. 
“The Grade Four Literacy Certificate Assessment, a diagnostic approach to measure literacy attainment and address weaknesses at the primary level, also came on stream this year. This intervention will, no doubt, put teachers under more pressure to perform,” he said.
Baksh reiterated his call to teachers, at every grade of the primary level, to dedicate at least one extra hour each day after school, to work with slower learners to improve their educational outcomes.
“Parents, you, too, have a role to play in this process and this can be done by presenting your children with books as gifts, reading to them and teaching them to read,” he challenged.
Baksh maintained that those simple measures can make a significant difference in not only building their vocabulary but also strengthening the emotional family bond.     
He urged children to, on this occasion, take the opportunity to encourage students to make reading a habit and he commended teachers who work tirelessly to make a difference by helping children and adults learn to read and write and, in so doing, make Guyana a more literate nation.
The Ministry of Education has embarked on these measures at it realises that literacy is a bulwark against poverty, a building block of development and the avenue through which every man, woman and child can realise his or her full potential.
International Literacy Day presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies everywhere.
The Guyana Prison Service has also been working with the Literacy Unit to improve literacy among inmates and so, too, a number of the corporate private sector agencies, to provide literacy training for their workers.