More than 800 children benefit from Early Childhood Commission reading fair
A TOTAL of 835 children from 43 basic schools across the island were treated to a day of fun and learning at a reading fair staged by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC).
The event, held recently at Orange Park, l ocated at 12 Ocean Boulevard, downtown Kingston, saw Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Ruel Reid; and State Minister, Floyd Green, along with scores of persons from the private sector and the entertainment industry, reading to and interacting with the children.
It was part of the ECC’s Read pon di Cawna and Read Across the Region initiatives launched last year to engage teachers, institutions, parents, public officials, agencies and other stakeholders in the effort to promote and instil a love for reading at an early age.
Read pon di Cawna is being hosted in designated communities, while Read Across the Region targets early-childhood institutions within the educational regions.
Reid said that the reading fair “empowers them (children) and unleashes the ability to do very well academically,” adding that reading enhances success in all aspects of life, as “everything hinges on the capacity to read”.
Green described the day educational and entertaining, saying that it proved that children could have fun while learning.
“It is very important for us to push reading, especially in the early years, and we are trying to engender a culture of reading by having parents and caregivers read to their children; that was what the day was about,” he said.