Reading is empowering and opens the doors to new adventures. With this year marking the 50th year of International Literacy Day, The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) launched a Read. Write. Communicate: Community Project to encourage youngsters to read.
BTVI’s staff and faculty, with the help of Urban Renewal, donated over 300 new and gently used books to Claridge Primary School, the nearest public primary school to the institution.
The BTVI team sprang into action with staff and faculty donating books or money to buy them for the worthy cause, with the culmination being the presentation at Claridge Primary’s Literacy Assembly on the 29th September under the theme, ‘A Journey Through Bahamian Literature.’
BTVI’s Public Relations Officer, Hadassah Hall, said the initiative came about after discovering statistics published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on International Literacy Day, September 8th. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics reported in 2015 that 757 million adults including 115 million youth (15 – 24 years), cannot read or write a simple sentence.
“The statistics are staggering, particularly knowing how fundamental reading is to education, and life itself. We do not want the students of Claridge Primary to be among those numbers,” said Ms. Hall.
“Whether you are completing an application form for a job or college, reading a flight board at an airport, reading the dosage on a medicine bottle or sitting in an exam, the ability to read, write and communicate one’s thoughts is something we do daily. And while we want them to learn to read because it is necessary, we also wish they would read for pleasure,” she stated.
Claridge Primary’s principal, Sharon Robinson said the school was pleased to be recipients of such a generous donation and all of the books will be put to good use, as the school’s librarian has a strong literacy program.
The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI)
Photos by Shantique Longley
Captions from top to bottom:
Bahamian drama, poetry and storytelling were the focus of Claridge Primary’s Journey through Bahamian Literature literacy assembly
The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) donated over 300 new and gently used books to Claridge Primary school, with the help of Urban Renewal.
Students of Claridge Primary gladly display a few of the books donated by BTVI and Urban Renewal during the school’s recent literacy assembly. Shown to the left is school Principal, Sharon Robinson and to the right is BTVI’s President, Dr. Robert W. Robertson.
Students have fun while getting into character
Students in the audience had fun as they got involved in the day’s activities
