DBS Reading Competition Organizers concerned about reading ability of some students

Kenilee Baron, winner of the DBS Reading Competition in 2017 with her winning cheque

Acting Programme Director at the Dominica Broadcasting Corporation (DBS), Kimara Hurtault has said that so far, the 2019 DBS Reading Competition is going well but she expressed concern about the reading ability of some of the students.

The DBS reading competition is held in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and is sponsored by Courts Dominica Ltd.

“We have different rounds in the competition. For the first round, we have already had two competitions. So far, the competition is going okay,” Hurtault told DNO in an interview. “We have had a number of schools participating, however, there’s concern about the content of the children’s reading ability. That should be looked at because there was a school which I think had to pull out a student in the competition itself.”

She said that overall, the competition expects to expose, showcase and identify the reading ability of the students from grades 3, 4 and 5.

The first competition in the first round took place on the 3rd of June at San Sauveur Primary School and the second was held at the Baroness Patricia Scotland primary school in Vieille Case on  June 5th.

The third competition in the first round will be held today, June 7th 2019 at Paix Bouche Primary School at 2:30pm  and will continue to the 11th, 12th and 14th. Ten students participate in each competition where 5 will be selected. A total of 30 students will then move on to the quarter finals.

Round two will commence the quarter finals which will lead on to the semifinals and finals. The finals is schedule to take place on the 5th of July 2019.

Hurtault said reading should be an everyday practice for children and teachers should find creative ways in getting students to love reading.

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16 Comments

  1. 小帕
    June 11, 2019

    If we don’t practice speaking properly how do we expect to read properly?

  2. Ivenia
    June 10, 2019

    Miss Hurtault, I see you only mention teachers should find creative ways to let children read. What about the parents? They are the first teachers to their children and the home is the first socialization institution.

  3. %
    June 9, 2019

    When you all go have sex and leave the little ones only for the teachers, that will forever be the result!!
    Things are so bad in the sphere of education, that even some teachers too can’t read properly.
    Dominica needs a total overhaul..It is badly broken in all areas!!!

  4. Bill
    June 9, 2019

    The seven (7) things children must focus on to develop themselves are literacy, comprehension, penmanship, critical thinking, research, numeracy, and well-being (physical, mental, spiritual, social).

    Teachers play a significant role in the classroom, but parents and family must play an even greater role at home and in the community/ neighborhood.

    Reading, rather the ability to read well takes all the above and more into consideration.

    I have never been a big reader but have taught at the secondary and tertiary levels of education one of my concerns is that despite the many distractions that young people have to deal with on a daily basis the education system has failed many of these young people miserably. Entities like the National Broadcasting System tend to focus more on sensationalism rather than the holistic development of people.

    This competition is a good initiative but is the objective just to compete or to enhance the reading skills/ capabilities of the…

  5. June 8, 2019

    Ibo France, you summed up the problem very well. Also, adults and youths have been consuming too much acronyms on digital devices, and this has erroded reading skills. So even some adults cannot put a proper sentences together.

    • Ibo France
      June 10, 2019

      Man, you are absolutely correct. All parents should get their children start reading at an early age . This does wonders to the child. A child who starts reading at an early age and continues through life usually excels in school and in life. I have witnessed it.

  6. Bernie
    June 8, 2019

    The cell phone can also be used for reading as well as finding the meaning of words that are not clear to the kids. Too many parents have abdicated their roles and are left for the teachers and others to school their kids.

    • Ivenia
      June 10, 2019

      Agreed. Teachers carry the brunt of the responsibilities and dome parents do not help their children to read.

  7. No name
    June 8, 2019

    Parents don’t have time these days for teaching their children to read? Nowadays is what outfit, brand name and how to look better than your neighbor they teach them. To add to that the parents spend more time on their gadgets and have more time for SEWO and the latest action than their children. Spending quality time with children at home is long gone, no longer.

  8. DBS listener
    June 7, 2019

    Is that the Kim who reads the bulletin on DBS radio.

  9. DBS listener
    June 7, 2019

    Kim in the dbs studio where she has time to go over the bulletin and she still cannot read it properly she talking about 8 and 9 year old front a crowd.

  10. Nana-Lain
    June 7, 2019

    8-O Hmmmmm! What you expect when they choose the worst of the worse to read in a competition maybe just to win some money? I bet there are way better readers in some of the schools. What a shame!

  11. Flat Tire
    June 7, 2019

    But when you have a leader that is not articulate cannot express himself well plus you have capitolin ontop of a truck making a merry fool of himself plus Manny chatting coshonee on kairi and labourites not reading and enlightening themselves what you expect from the children

  12. Shna
    June 7, 2019

    Our children today are not interested in reading anymore. The age range for the readers would most likely come from Grade 2. Are the reading materials at the children’s reading level. You all should give the students copies of news item to practise..

  13. Ibo France
    June 7, 2019

    For one to become a good reader, it takes a lot of practice. Today’s children are distracted by so many electronic devices that they have all but abandoned the library, books, newspapers and other readily available reading materials. This has resulted in incoherent oral reading and poor comprehension skills. Parents have to ensure that their children read for leisure at least an hour per day. If a primary school student is not able to read at his/her grade level, the parent(s) should have an audience with the teacher for possible causes and solutions. What polish does to the shoe, reading does to the mind.

  14. AA
    June 7, 2019

    What are the concerns .? What I read was just repetition of the content og reading ability.

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