The latest figures from the Statistical Department put Belize's literacy rate at 45% meaning that about half of the population has problems reading and writing. And while absolute illiteracy, as it is called, is one thing the dismal performance by standard six students on the English composition paper of the PSE is another. By and large it shows that Belizean students are having problems mastering their own language. The Ministry of Education is trying to nip the problem in the bud with the Belize Junior Achievement Test for standard three students. 52 of the 6,000 students who sat and wrote stories for the test last year became published authors this morning at the Belize District launch of a new collection of their stories. The essays were written based on an illustration of the fox and the crow. The Program Director at the Examination Unit, Yvonne Davis, told us how the stories were chosen.
Yvonne Davis, Program Director, Examination Unit
"There were many good scripts but we couldn't put all in a booklet so we selected a few based on maybe the twists that they took regarding the topic. It depicts an old fable, the fox and the crow, and these really are Belize's version of the fox and the crow. One of the things that we have noticed across the country is the kind of creativity that was coming out from the students. Whilst a lot of them were very familiar with the topic, we noticed that they took their own twist and we felt that we needed to produce something to show the nation how our children are thinking at that level and the capability that they have displayed on that test."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"It was important for us because that not too often during their primary school education do we have an opportunity for kids to be acknowledged so this is a concrete way of saying to them we're proud of the work you're doing, you're doing well, and it also reflects our commitment to reading and writing which we believe is very critical; the foundation really for everything else we do in education."
The booklet was distributed to standard three students and will be launched in each district. The next Belize Junior Achievement Test will be held the second week in June.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
