Fostering a love for reading among students, as a means of addressing declining literacy levels, was the driving force behind the inaugural Quality Education Circle (QEC) 17 Literacy Fair in St. Thomas.
The initiative, themed ‘Act Now, Read More, Learn More, Be More’, was hosted at Morant Bay Primary School on Tuesday (May 19).
Principal of Old Pera Primary and Infant School in St. Thomas and Chair of the QEC 17 Literacy Committee, Apollonia Davidson-Onfroy, said the event was designed to inspire children to embrace reading in a fun and engaging way.
Mrs. Davidson Onfroy explained that the committee had recognised a decline in literacy rates within QEC 17.
She noted that the issue was first highlighted by Education Officer, Marcia Dallas McKenzie, who convened the Committee. From those discussions, the idea of staging the literacy fair emerged.
“Together, [we] came up with the idea that it would be good to have a fair to help nurture that love for reading amongst the students,” the Principal said.
The event featured a variety of interactive, game based activities designed to make reading enjoyable and engaging for students.
One of the major highlights was a display competition, where participating schools presented creative exhibits based on themes from various books, including ‘Old Story Time’ by Trevor Rhone, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Chicken Little’, ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, ‘Frozen’, and ‘The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig’.
“All the schools in the display competition would have chosen a book of choice,” Mrs. Davidson-Onfroy said, noting that while some institutions opted for traditional fairy tales, the high schools chose literature texts.
“We want the children to realise that books can leap off the pages and bring learning right into [their] imagination. It is a fun way of getting new information,” she added.
Mrs. Davidson Onfroy expressed optimism that the Literacy Fair would evolve into an annual event.
“We hope that after our evaluative meeting, we will be able to fix any quirks or kinks and make this into an annual phenomenal event,” she said.
A Quality Education Circle (QEC) is a network of educational institutions within a specific geographical area, encompassing early childhood, primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.
The schools work collaboratively with stakeholders to improve student outcomes, facilitate effective support from the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, and promote cooperation among educators, principals, and the wider community.
