- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 24/Aug 08:18

The missing links

In a televised interview last week, Professor Emeritus Kenneth Ramchand, one of the principal figures in the creation and internationalisation of Caribbean literature as an academic discipline, dodged a difficult question with an enigmatic answer. Asked, invidiously, if he had the genius Caribbean writers of the moment in his sights, he said that he was looking to the children, since that is where the future lay. The Danish people would agree with him. Their government announced last week that it was removing the 25 per cent VAT on books that makes books more expensive and may be contributing to the year-on-year decline in reading for pleasure by children. It was also harming the literary industry on which ever-popular audio-books are based. And, since there is a direct correlation between shortened attention spans, poorer cognitive skills and behavioural patterns among non-readers, the government is now promoting children re-engaging with books. It plans to limit children’s use of computers in Denmark, one of most highly digitalised countries in the world. In TT we have a full 12.5 per cent VAT on non-education books. Repeated efforts to get it removed have failed. It is an indication of how we perceive books and misunderstand intellectual development. Politicians obviously view learning as only what we study in school, hence educational books being VAT-free. In fact, robust research shows that it is what we do outside of school that enhances learning, especially regarding reading. A British 2012 Department of Education report, Research Evidence on Reading for Pleasure, compiled the increasing body of evidence that reading for pleasure is a key factor in both educational attainment and personal development, and is more important for children than family socio-economic status. Children have higher academic success and greater chances in life when they regularly read stories or novels outside of school. Reading for pleasure, it says, is also “an activity that has emotional and social consequences.” The report shows, too, that children with access to libraries and books of their own enjoy reading more, and read more frequently. The more books in a house, the higher the child’s attainment. Choice is an important factor, since it creates interest, but the most important factor in getting children onto that path is the parent or guardian. Adult input and home environment are essential in the early teaching of reading and to foster a love of reading. Telling children stories and reading along with them while quite young – from pre-toddler age – is the secret to future reading and writing ability and reading enjoyment, not least because age affects attitudes to reading and reading behaviour. Children actually enjoy reading less as they get older; but, fortunately, evidence suggests that while the frequency with which they read declines with age, they read for longer periods as they age. Of course, we do have some extremely good, star-quality contemporary writers. We know because they are floating up to the top internationally, regionally and locally, many of them from TT, all of them beneficiaries of a solid education and from homes in which reading for pleasure was encouraged. We all love stories, and all writers seem to have an early appreciation of stories in common, whether written or recounted by adults. At the Bocas Lit Fest, which was established to rekindle a love of reading and storytelling and thereby broaden our culture and help foster an environment conducive to the development of writers, we have found structural hindrances to the educational and literary development of our children. VAT, ie the penalty on books, is one. Another is the paucity of inspiring reading matter that is appropriate to the various early stages of reading. Children move from learning to read to the stage of reading to learn. Younger children need picture-led stories. From ages seven-nine, the pictures assist the story; from age nine, pictures should have disappeared. This prepares children to be independent readers and to approach secondary-school texts with confidence. We started a prize to reward and encourage books by Caribbean authors for seven-nine-year-olds but soon discontinued it, because the books were not doing the necessary job of bridging that critical developmental stage. Certainly, children should be exposed to universal childhood experiences and themes, but it is also necessary for children to see their particular realities reflected in stories. Therefore, we need good, well written Caribbean stories that are age-appropriate and can capture a child’s imagination. The gap exists because we still do not have a well-structured literary sector. We need better children's writers and children’s books – or Prof Ramchand will be waiting a long time to find the new geniuses both in the universities and on the bookshelves of the future. We really need to remedy the disservice to our children and ourselves. The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair, Port of Spain, hosts a monthly Family Reading Circle. The post The missing links appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.