Impact of literacy week on students goes beyond schools – Dover

by Eldonté Samuel

Asif Dover of the Ministry of Education’s Language, Literacy and Communications Department said that the impact of literacy week on students is emphasised beyond just schools and is aimed at genuine improvement in literacy levels.

“I would say yes, it impacts, and not just the schools, because we want literacy week to not just impact the schools but they must impact the students…we don’t just want literacy week to be just a show, we want literacy week to be things that are done to really improve the students’ overall literacy levels.”

While scientific assessment of its effectiveness has not been done, Dover said the event raises awareness of literacy’s importance. This year’s theme for literacy week in schools is ‘Read what you Write’. The theme encourages students to become more involved in writing and be given the opportunity to read their original pieces to an audience other than their classmates.

The Kingstown Preparatory School on February 23, 2024, culminated their literacy week which saw an array of activities geared at enhancing literacy levels in the school.

“Everything that the children read at school, at the Thompson’s home and the API, it was wonderful what they wrote”, said Susan Abraham, the principal of the school.
She shared that a march done around the Grammar School Playing Field was an example of how much the students enjoyed the week of activities at the school, and it tends to uphold a high standard for education.

Throughout the week, the school hosted various activities promoting literacy. Monday featured student performances, including poems and speeches. Tuesday saw parents reading to students and children reading across different grades.

Students also visited the Thompson home to read to former students, creating a heart warming connection. Media outlets recorded students reading and the week concluded with a “hats off to reading” march by the students around the Grammar School Playing Field, that also involved parents and teachers.

These events showcased the importance of literacy and community involvement in education.

“As a top school, reading is our top priority…without reading…

“Nobody can survive without being able to read…reading is important, if you can’t read, as the saying goes, you can’t succeed,” said Abraham
The Layou Government School’s literacy week featured treasure hunt, board games day, teacher and students switching roles, students reading to the elders, and parents and retirees reading to students.

On Friday there was a march with students chanting, playing drums and other instruments. Students also read to the entire school stories and poems that they wrote.

The Barrouallie Anglican School, and Windsor Primary School also recently culminated literacy week activities, and the Clare Valley Government School has slated their literacy week activities to commence on May 17, to coincide with the school’s 70th anniversary on that date.

Dover said that there has been a recent interest in literacy week by secondary schools. He told SEARCHLIGHT that many of the schools that have “struggling readers…have gotten involved in literacy week just to encourage the students to take reading and literacy as a whole, more seriously”.

The education official said while he cannot recall for how long literacy week has been going on, he knows that it was being celebrated back in 2013 while he was still teaching at the Clare Valley Government School.