2 years ago, the Ministry of Education declared literacy as a national priority for Belize's primary school children. That's after they realized that the students had deficiencies in their ability to read and properly comprehend.
Since then, they've worked diligently on strategies to try and assist students countrywide to improve on this very important area of their education. They believe that they've found several methods that work, and so today, they held a workshop with educators from the different districts to hopefully disseminate techniques to teach reading to the nation's children.
7News stopped by today to discuss the breakthroughs with the Chief Education Officer, Dr. Carol Babb. Here's what she had to say about how far the teaching techniques on literacy has come:
Dr. Carol Babb - Chief Education Officer
"Two years ago, we launched literacy as a national priority. So, we have educators from every district at this meeting right now because we all want every district to be working on our literacy strategy. So, we're going to share data, and we're going to share how we can address those issues that teachers and students are facing with readying and writing."
"One of the biggest issues that we have is comprehension. We find that children may be able to call the words, but they're not understanding what they are reading. So, that is one of the areas that we're going to address today at this meeting, how to help students to comprehend, to understand what they read on a daily basis."
Reporter
"And over the past 2 years since it was launched as a national issue, have you seen any improvements in the literacy levels of children?"
Dr. Carol Babb
"Yes, definitely. We have been working with 30 schools in the Belize District, the Toledo, and Stann Creek Districts, and we have seen marked improvements. And so, what we're trying to do now is to try to make these strategies, share them nationally."
And to hopefully bring reading and literacy to life for Belize's primary school children, several of the educators received a book donation from the American children's book author, Tonia Allen Gould. She's published her book, Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore, which explores themes of hard work and perseverance in the face of adversity.
She told us today that her experience as an at-risk youth in the American Foster Care system gives her some insight into some barriers to literacy for primary school children:
Tonia Allen Gould - Children's Book Author
"I was a foster child in my youth, and I wanted to write a book that dealt with hard work, determination, perseverance. And so, I wrote a story about a land and sea fiddler crab, Samuel T Moore of Corte Magore. He arrives on this idyllic island, this fictional place, and he wants to stay there and live there forever. But, he has to overcome obstacles like the rising tide, and he has to do a certain amount of work in a certain amount of time. And that's - all children go through that kind of learning, time management. So, there's a time management embodiment in the book. But, there is also a great, big, bad bully, the Great Tidal Wave, and he's threatening Sam's hut that he built. And so, Sam has to do a certain amount of work in a certain amount of time, while he has seagulls soaring above him, mocking him in flocks, and hermit crabs that are just bystanders. He's kind of doing everything alone, because a lot of times, I think that a lot of times, kids are going through something, especially at-risk kids - like I was in my youth. I think that a lot of times, you have to learn how to stand on your own 2 feet. I think you have to learn how to pull yourself up by your own proverbial bootstraps and do the work in a certain amount of time. And so, the first book is about hard work and independence, trial and error, and not succeeding at first."
"This book will, I promise, be put to good use in this country, and serve this country very well. I know that there are a lot of players coming together, and so, I'm not sure what I can talk about, and what I cannot talk about at this point. But, I'm very eager to be working with the country of Belize and to see if one book can literally change the trajectory of children's lives in a country that is actually pretty easy. In my opinion, it's a small enough country - it seems to be a country that I'm meeting people very very quickly, and things are being done very fast. And that's very exciting for me."
"I was so inspired by these educators that Dr. Babb had brought me to talk to and speak with. I am very glad to donate books to all these educators. I'll be shipping them the minute I get back to California."
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