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Yesterday, the Ministry of Education launched its first set of Primary levelPresident Donald Ramotar spends some time reading with primary-aged children during the programme to launch the series.textbooks,wholesale jerseys, the Atlantic Readers Series,cheap nfl jerseys china, for Grades One to Three. The venue for the launching was the Port Mourant Primary School on the Corentyne and was attended by senior officers within the Ministry, including Assistant Chief Education Officers, Doodmattie Singh and Melcita Bovell.The three sets of books, which are expected to further aid development of reading skills, are produced in full colour with lots of illustrations. The books were written with Guyanese culture in mind; with characters, pictorial representations and scenarios,wholesale jerseys china, all Guyanese.Assistant Chief Education Officer (Primary), Mr. Marcel Hutson, who piloted the project, underscored the importance of the series, particularly that it can help children become independent readers.Hutson noted that the team conducted research for textbook formats for basal readers around the world, mainly examining reviews in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.“A local format was designed, specific to the lower, middle and upper divisions of the primaryThe collection of Atlantic Readers books on display yesterday.grades,” he said.Hutson added that yesterday was a significant day in the education sector as a “prized product” was being unveiled. It was noted that all of the texts focus on the balanced approach of reading skills at grade levels.“Together, this combination will help the Ministry of Education to deliver to the school system a plan that is effective and will cater to the highest achievement, when you utilize it properly in the classroom.”A team of writers was drawn from the education sector across Guyana for the purpose of writing the series of books, including Barbara Richards, Nicole Jardine-Agard, Deborah Hutson, Corrine Osborne, Lisa Rice, Collette Horatio, Sandra Persaud, Marina Layne and Rekha Singh.The writers, all educators, spent in excess of nine months, putting the pieces together for compilation.“There’s lots of stories that say writing books takes years, but these people actually took nine months putting this series together. During this period they networked, sharing ideas, thoughts and content, to ensure that there was synergy and continuity in the series.”The books, he stated, is a testimony of the Ministry’s capacity to achieve extraordinary things, “as we continue to work together as a team for the betterment of Guyana”.“We strongly believe that, over time, this resource will help the Ministry to achieve one of its stated mandates in the Education Strategic Plan, which is making every child a reader by Grade Four.”Hudson asserted that the work is not over. The next step, he added, involves training teachers to use the resources effectively and efficiently in their classrooms, “for the maximization of results.” He hinted at the production and compilation of Readers for Grades Four and Six shortly. “I guarantee you, these will be better, for we are very quick learners.”University of Guyana Lecturer and veteran educator, Ms. Bonita Hunter, was pleased about the release of the series of books,cheap nfl jerseys online, since she believes children will immediately connect with the characters in the stories, the settings, and be able to relate to the experiences they portray.“I can attest to the vast amounts of information that I have acquired from reading. The Atlantic Readers Series is a significant initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Education—a landmark achievement!”It signals the importance of reading by the Ministry, Hunter opined. “It supports the notion that reading is a very important skill that needs to be developed at a very early age.” She noted that children reading the books would be exposed to a variety of information, pertaining to the environment, health, personal safety, travel and leisure activities.“As I read those books, I am caught up in the experiences of each of the children, their families and their friends, featured in the series.”Education Minister Priya Manickchand, during her address to the gathering, boasted about the improvement of results in various subject areas in Guyana’s schools. She also alluded to the improvements in the sector over the years,cheap jerseys nfl wholesale, including a boost in the number of trained teachers. She emphasised that books signal an investment by the government in the 85,000 primary school children in 441 schools across Guyana.Minister Manickchand thanked the team of writers, led by Mr. Hutson.“We sought to do this (write the series of books) because, in reality, we are buying books from overseas…they are very,cheap nfl jerseys, very costly, and even though this country has been doing better, we have limitations on what we could spend, so children were sharing books, or they were photocopying books.”She added that the Ministry then decided to tap into local talent to write the books. Manickchand envisioned Guyana entering the Caribbean market, to sell such books, marketing talent and capabilities in publishing and preparing school material for children.“We believe that right across the Caribbean, these books are going to be wanted.”Keynote speaker, President Donald Ramotar,jerseys nfl wholesale, also congratulated the writing team.“This is extremely important, and I hope that we will see it as a beginning, and that we should be able to produce more of our own texts in the future.”Other officials who attended the launch included Member of Parliament, Mr. Faizal M. Jaffarally; Human Resources Manager, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Delma Nedd; Region Six Chairman, Mr. David Armogan; Regional Education Officer (Region 6), Mrs. Volika Jaikishun; Education Officers, Mrs. Bhagmattie La Cruz; Ms. Ruth Jaundoo; Literacy Advisor, Mrs. Simone Dainty; UGBC Director, Dr. Subramaniam Gomes and NCERD’s Mrs. Pauline Stanford. The launch was chaired by veteran English specialist attached to NCERD, Mrs. Ingrid Fung. |
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