Hazel leads walk for literacy

NALIS and the Ministry of Education yesterday launched a symbolic walk in commemoration of 2004’s International Literacy Day. Members of the public gathered at the National Library in Port-of-Spain, where they marched up Abercromby Street and continued  around the Queen’s Park Savannah.

NALIS has been committed to reduce the high level of illiteracy in Trinidad and Tobago. Over the past few years, NALIS has provided several programmes in promoting literacy through training on computers and book launches. Minister of Education, Hazel Manning, has called on parents to play a role in teaching their children to read. “Long ago, literacy was known as the ability to read and write. Today, because of globalisation, TT needs to develop world literacy through technology, music and the arts,” said Manning. She said reading does not begin in schools, but in the home. Adults must be the readers, she said, as children emulate what they see. Manning said literacy is the master key to social transformation, and we as individuals must infuse these literacy skills for the life-long journey of learning.