Islanders’ poor reading worries educationist

Press, 21 June 1984, Page 17

Islanders’ poor reading worries educationist

By

NEVILLE PEAT

information officer Ministry of Foreign Affairs through NZPA Wellington Primary school children in many island countries of the South Pacific are poor readers, according to a leading educationist in the region, Mr Francis Mangubhai.

Mr Mangubhai, director of the Institute of Education at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, believes that reading is a discipline that is often badly taught in primary schools.

“Teachers don’t seem to understand the reading process or its key role in

language development,” he said. Slow readers would inevitably find higher education difficult, and vocational prospects limited. In an attempt to improve reading skills in a number of South Pacific countries, the Institute of Education is promoting the “shared book” teaching method developed in New Zealand. It involves, as a teaching resource, large-print books with colourful illustrations. Children gather round the teacher close enough for all to be able to read.

The institute’s primary reading project fellow, Ms Barbara Moore, works with teacher organisations on the introduction of the method.

She has held workshops in Fiji, Kiribati, and Tuvalu so far. Other countries are expressing interest. “Our main challenge is to have the method built into teacher training programmes, which in many cases follow the Tate oral English method,” said Mr Mangubhai. “It is not easy to effect change when, in the case of the Tate method, there has been so much invested already in training and resources. What we are on about is encouraging reading for pleasure,” he said. New Zealand contributed $30,000 towards the primary reading project last year under the official aid programme.