Reading means access to ideas and information

“Access to reading means access to ideas and information that we cannot find through our own experience,” said Constance Nasi, Under Secretary National Education Service in the Ministry of Education and Human Resources.

Literacy is a key part of Solomon Islands’ education system, Ms Nasi told a joint celebration to mark International Literacy Day in Honiara.

“We want students to know how to read meaningfully and then write meaningfully. We want to build skills and abilities that they can use now and in the future, just as their lives are now and in the future.”

The theme for this year’s International Literacy Day is “reading the past and writing the future.”

Literacy partners march from the Honiara City Council to the National Museum grounds.

“We need teachers to understand and then to teach children that literacy is about knowing words and knowing about the world through words, then learning the flexibility and creativity to use those words to express ideas to meet their needs and to entertain with the sheer delight of language,” said the Education Under Secretary.

World Vision joined the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, the Literacy Association of Solomon Islands, and other partners for a day of celebrations at the National Museum grounds.

“We can see that there are many ways that groups are building strong lives throughout Solomon Islands. There are organisations working with young people and older people, those through forms of schooling and those outside of schooling.

“In each of these organisations we recognize something of our own endeavours, the desire to see all people in the community access the benefit that literacy offers in building strong lives.”

Crowd listening to speeches and presentations at the National Auditorium.

The celebrations started with a march from the Honiara City Council to the National Museum Grounds, followed by speeches, raffle draws for book prizes, skits and cultural performances.