–in bid to promote early reading

THE Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), under the purview of the Ministry of Social Protection (MoSP), is seeking to embed an early interest in reading in toddlers through its “Back to Basics” literacy programme.

The programme, which falls under the Early Childhood Development Unit of the CPA, seeks to foster an “early interest” in books in children, which, according to a ministry release, “gives children a head-start and prepares them for formal education.”

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle was the Manager of the Early Childhood Development Unit, Concheeta Gray, who stressed that this initiative is a “grass-roots approach” to fostering reading and early education.

“We’re going to health centres, and we hope that all children will be able to benefit,” she explained. The registration and licensing officers at these centres will be instrumental in this process.

Gray said that the ideal situation is to meet the parents with their children and demonstrate how the youngsters would garner pre-reading skills from being read to, or from just turning the pages of books and explaining the pictures.

From this simple act of learning to read from a parent’s lap, children would be able to acquire the skills of following words across a page, turning the pages, and eventually reading for themselves.

As of 2016, Guyana’s national literacy rate was at an average of 88%, a little above the then global average of 86%. The government has committed to increasing these rates, and has since initiated programmes through the Ministry of Education (MoE) to fulfill this goal.

The disparity that existed in hinterland and riverine areas was identified as one of the deterring factors in improving the national average, and as such one MoE programme, the ‘Read, Play, Love’ programme targeted these areas especially.

Thus the MoSP, cognizant of those inherent differences, will not only be targeting the more populated areas, but areas across Guyana.

The success of this programme, though, is reliant on the cooperation of parents viz a viz reading for and/or with children, developing their pre-reading skills and thereafter necessitating their ability to read.

And while there is no definitive date for the implementation of this programme, Gray ascertained that the programme should be launched by the end of January.

Additionally, the Ministry is currently engaged in a book drive to accumulate books to disseminate at the health centres to the parents of all children. Books can be donated to any of the Ministry’s District offices or to the CPA’s Broad Street office.