Dear Editor,
It seems as if everyone tends to agree or raise their hands above their heads when it comes down to "what about when so and so did this or did that?" And then there was this in the editorial "the disturbing trend unfortunately can be seen throughout all sectors." The behaviour in traffic was mentioned as an example and I could not agree more, but permit me to remind your readers how too many of those who were vying for office expressed themselves during the recent held political campaign. Instead of choosing the high road too often the low road was chosen in reacting to each other's allegations. To add to all this Minister Lake in preparing for his legal defence in the notorious land deal sums up a series of projects executed by government before or during his tenure which if I understand correctly, were not addressed in the same way his land deal blunder was addressed. (Being right is not always good).
Just as we would hope for the grown-ups in the community to be an example to the youth, more so we expect our leaders in government to be role models. Minister Lake was being hypocritical, because instead of saying I will not follow that wrong trend of government, he went back to basics, using those mentioned projects as armour to justify his eventual future wrong. Permit me to remind not alone Minister Lake but whoever, no matter what. If you dig two holes, one of those holes will remain yours. By now one should know that this is not against the person of Maurice Lake, because I like the good gentleman, but being a Minister of government he is in debt to the people and I am part of the people so I react to things that I believe government is not doing right.
Sitting in one's living room and making observations is different than openly voicing ones opinion. Does Minister Lake then want to imply that focus should be on the armed robbers alone and that government officials should be permitted to wheel and deal at random with the people's patrimony. Terms like white colour and blue colour come to mind. Robbers rob. Government Ministers take an oath to serve and are being well paid to do so. I do not understand the comparison. What I know is that one should be careful in thinking that "I did not physically commit the act," because there are terms like "knowingly" and "by association" etc., which could still change the procedure. By the way if there was no reaction to that strange land deal, would Mr. Lake have kept his silence concerning those "dubious" projects of the past? Not good.
The lack of integrity by leaders in government again comes into play here. Again not helping to encourage peace among the youth. Nobody has to pick on us, we are constantly supplying ammunition for them to use against us. It is easy to do the right thing. The same effort you make to get up every day to go to work is the same type of effort you can use to refuse to do negative things and after a while it becomes natural and you even get in the habit of apologizing when you think you said or did the wrong thing. It is still so that two wrongs do not make a right. The letters of the word PEACE could stand for several things I would simply like for them to stand for Positive Encouragement And Comprehensive Education.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
The most important reason for reading to children is for them to develop a love of literacy or to acquire a deep affection for print. Therefore, the most critical time to read to them is from the moment they were born up until their kindergarten years. Here is where the foundation is set, so it is crucial that this is done at this stage of their development.
However, it is of utmost importance that we understand the purpose and methods for reading to children in order to achieve the results that are necessary to set this foundation. With this in mind, we will focus on the purpose and discover that there are seven specific reasons why we read to children and how we use books as the infrastructure for their entire school life.
The number one reason for reading to children is for joy of literacy, as mentioned in the opening sentence. If we, as parents, read to our children frequently they would learn to treat books as their buddy. Once we have established this starting point, we will soon find out the other reasons why we need to read to them, so that they can develop into literate individuals.
If we reflected on how humans learn we would find that everything starts with a concept or rule for that particular thing. If we also keep in mind that there is a specific time to achieve certain skills, then we will know that we cannot delay the progress of our children if we want them to strive in a very competitive world.
So, our second reason for reading to children is to develop specific concepts or ideas of things. It is imperative that children who are of pre-school and kindergarten age get exposed to basic concepts such as: letters, sounds, colours, shapes, numbers, sizes, days of the week, positions, textures etc. When we, as parents, understand that we have an obligation to educate ourselves first, then our task of educating our children would be much easier and more purposeful.
Thirdly, reading to children for information is a great way for them to find out more about the world that they live in. Here is where the concepts are expanded or transferred and the opportunity to learn becomes limitless.
Fourthly, sometimes parents overlook the aspect of selecting books that deal with humour, which is such an important skill for children to develop. Humour can be considered as a Mecca cognitive skill. It is beyond knowledge – it is a skill that requires pulling language out and having the ability to analyse it and understand it.
Next, we read to children to develop sensitivity to emotions. In other words, children need to have an understanding of their feelings and those of other persons as well.
We also read to children to expand their vocabulary and comprehension, which are closely linked together. If children have an extensive vocabulary, it is much easier for them to understand what is said, and they in turn would be able to express themselves fluently and in an intelligent way.
Finally, we read to children to develop reading and writing skills. As parents, we must be aware that there is a vast difference between children who are read to on a daily basis during these critical years of their development versus those who were not so fortunate to have this privilege. Children who are read to every day tend to induce everything, so learning to read and write become almost like osmosis. They do not need to be taught a lot because they have all their systems working for them that would be necessary for the development of these vital skills.
To recap, as we can see, all these skills are very important, but they become essential at different times during their developmental stages. This is why we must educate ourselves as parents, so that we can plan for our children in order for them to reach these milestones at the appropriate time rather than letting them happen by chance or to depend solely on the educational system to supply these needs.
Joslyn Morton
Dear Editor,
In accordance with the conclusion of the Appeal Committee Study Financing (that the denial of study financing to Ms. Juliy had been legally wrong) the Minister of Education has decided to retract her original decision and to still honour Juliy's request on which I wrote two letters to the editor of this newspaper.
Juliy thereupon has signed the required loan agreement and the Education Department now has initiated the process to instruct the Finance Department to refund her certain expenses she has made, like for her ticket to the Netherlands, for her first monthly living expenses and for study books; although not for those expenses incurred by her mother for travelling with her.
With this process on its way, not only have many been proven wrong by predicting (thereby giving various reasons) that Juliy's quest for justice would never be compensated, but more importantly her trust in the government of the island of her birth has been restored.
Even for me, as her legal representative in this, it also has been a very gratifying experience.
In the meeting I had last Monday with Mr. Antonio Aventurin Division Head Study Financing for the Ministry of Education and his assistant Mrs. Yolanda Jackson-Martina I was again reminded of the, at times difficult, position a civil servant can find him/herself in, having to defend a government position, which may sometimes have serious flaws in it.
Mr. Aventurin informed me that the establishment of government's policy regarding study financing was the responsibility of a different sector of the Ministry than his and that indeed a beginning has been made to improve that policy, something that has been long overdue.
The meeting was a very professional and pleasant one and at the end I again have offered my assistance towards that process, something I had already expressed to the Minister herself.
The positive end of this story shows that although the struggle for justice many times can be a very hard one requiring much courage and perseverance it still is always worthy, not only as one's right but also as one's moral obligation, while meanwhile we also have to acknowledge that despite many things which still can and must be corrected, we can be fortunate to live in a country where democracy and justice (most of the times) ultimately are respected.
May Juliy's case serve as an example for many among us who practically have lost hope and have concluded that the powerful never will give in to what they see as an attack on their protected and privileged position, particularly when one belongs to a vulnerable social economic group in society.
My congratulations also goes to the Minister of Education who also has shown the courage to overturn her original decision to deny Juliy's request to be helped in pursuing her studies with government's assistance.
Elco Rosario
Dear Editor,
The most important reason for reading to children is for them to develop a love of literacy or to acquire a deep affection for print. Therefore, the most critical time to read to them is from the moment they were born up until their kindergarten years. Here is where the foundation is set, so it is crucial that this is done at this stage of their development.
However, it is of utmost importance that we understand the purpose and methods for reading to children in order to achieve the results that are necessary to set this foundation. With this in mind, we will focus on the purpose and discover that there are seven specific reasons why we read to children and how we use books as the infrastructure for their entire school life.
The number one reason for reading to children is for joy of literacy, as mentioned in the opening sentence. If we, as parents, read to our children frequently they would learn to treat books as their buddy. Once we have established this starting point, we will soon find out the other reasons why we need to read to them, so that they can develop into literate individuals.
If we reflected on how humans learn we would find that everything starts with a concept or rule for that particular thing. If we also keep in mind that there is a specific time to achieve certain skills, then we will know that we cannot delay the progress of our children if we want them to strive in a very competitive world.
So, our second reason for reading to children is to develop specific concepts or ideas of things. It is imperative that children who are of pre-school and kindergarten age get exposed to basic concepts such as: letters, sounds, colours, shapes, numbers, sizes, days of the week, positions, textures etc. When we, as parents, understand that we have an obligation to educate ourselves first, then our task of educating our children would be much easier and more purposeful.
Thirdly, reading to children for information is a great way for them to find out more about the world that they live in. Here is where the concepts are expanded or transferred and the opportunity to learn becomes limitless.
Fourthly, sometimes parents overlook the aspect of selecting books that deal with humour, which is such an important skill for children to develop. Humour can be considered as a Mecca cognitive skill. It is beyond knowledge – it is a skill that requires pulling language out and having the ability to analyse it and understand it.
Next, we read to children to develop sensitivity to emotions. In other words, children need to have an understanding of their feelings and those of other persons as well.
We also read to children to expand their vocabulary and comprehension, which are closely linked together. If children have an extensive vocabulary, it is much easier for them to understand what is said, and they in turn would be able to express themselves fluently and in an intelligent way.
Finally, we read to children to develop reading and writing skills. As parents, we must be aware that there is a vast difference between children who are read to on a daily basis during these critical years of their development versus those who were not so fortunate to have this privilege. Children who are read to every day tend to induce everything, so learning to read and write become almost like osmosis. They do not need to be taught a lot because they have all their systems working for them that would be necessary for the development of these vital skills.
To recap, as we can see, all these skills are very important, but they become essential at different times during their developmental stages. This is why we must educate ourselves as parents, so that we can plan for our children in order for them to reach these milestones at the appropriate time rather than letting them happen by chance or to depend solely on the educational system to supply these needs.
Joslyn Morton
Dear Editor,
In accordance with the conclusion of the Appeal Committee Study Financing (that the denial of study financing to Ms. Juliy had been legally wrong) the Minister of Education has decided to retract her original decision and to still honour Juliy's request on which I wrote two letters to the editor of this newspaper.
Juliy thereupon has signed the required loan agreement and the Education Department now has initiated the process to instruct the Finance Department to refund her certain expenses she has made, like for her ticket to the Netherlands, for her first monthly living expenses and for study books; although not for those expenses incurred by her mother for travelling with her.
With this process on its way, not only have many been proven wrong by predicting (thereby giving various reasons) that Juliy's quest for justice would never be compensated, but more importantly her trust in the government of the island of her birth has been restored.
Even for me, as her legal representative in this, it also has been a very gratifying experience.
In the meeting I had last Monday with Mr. Antonio Aventurin Division Head Study Financing for the Ministry of Education and his assistant Mrs. Yolanda Jackson-Martina I was again reminded of the, at times difficult, position a civil servant can find him/herself in, having to defend a government position, which may sometimes have serious flaws in it.
Mr. Aventurin informed me that the establishment of government's policy regarding study financing was the responsibility of a different sector of the Ministry than his and that indeed a beginning has been made to improve that policy, something that has been long overdue.
The meeting was a very professional and pleasant one and at the end I again have offered my assistance towards that process, something I had already expressed to the Minister herself.
The positive end of this story shows that although the struggle for justice many times can be a very hard one requiring much courage and perseverance it still is always worthy, not only as one's right but also as one's moral obligation, while meanwhile we also have to acknowledge that despite many things which still can and must be corrected, we can be fortunate to live in a country where democracy and justice (most of the times) ultimately are respected.
May Juliy's case serve as an example for many among us who practically have lost hope and have concluded that the powerful never will give in to what they see as an attack on their protected and privileged position, particularly when one belongs to a vulnerable social economic group in society.
My congratulations also goes to the Minister of Education who also has shown the courage to overturn her original decision to deny Juliy's request to be helped in pursuing her studies with government's assistance.
Elco Rosario
