Libraries in all schools

MINISTER of Education Hazel Manning says libraries will soon be established in all primary and secondary schools throughout the country, to help solve overcrowding and indisciplined acts carried out by students who use the Public Library in Port-of-Spain. The Ministry in collaboration with the Coca Cola Company, launched a joint initiative programme on Wednesday at the San Fernando Girls’ Primary School, in the form of remodelling the school’s library into an interactive learning centre. Minister Manning said since there was an information explosion in the country, the nation’s children ought to be provided with skills to access the information. She also said the country was bombarded by high levels of illiteracy and in order to conquer this illiteracy, all stakeholders needed to make a necessary concerted effort.

The theme of a new campaign against illiteracy is “Reading is Magic.” This concept aims to create an environment which will assist in bringing back the joy of reading to students. On Wednesday, the first of the two schools selected by the Ministry for the pilot project — the San Fernandos’ Girls’ primary school — was officially opened. The other school is Nelson Street Boys’ RC School, Port-of-Spain. General Manager of Caribbean Bottlers, Robert Ramchand said the key to the success of the programme was to demonstrate that reading is a powerful and magical skill that can help children achieve success and reach their dreams. Ramchand also urged other corporate entities to “join in” and invest both financially and otherwise in meaningful programmes, in this case, establishing libraries, in order to enable the strengthening of positive efforts. He said since the education system was a critical lifeline, it is the duty of all corporate bodies to play an important role in its development.