INTEREST IN THE WORLD PUTS STUDENTS AHEAD

How can students read and write if they have no interest in knowledge of the world. They have no curiosity on any matter past or present and have never made a habit of discussing any matter. They are illiterate in mind and soul.

If they do not read, they do not know words. They do not even read the daily newspaper. This is a major problem in schools of Papua New Guinea. There are very few school libraries with students not interested in spending an hour reading a book.

It is a vicious circle. If they do not read, they do not know words and meanings. If they do not know words and meanings, they do not read.

A problem in this country is that students have been pushed on to higher grades but do not have the necessary interest in the world. They lack words and the meanings of words. They can not use so many words in their own writing.

What is the answer? There needs to be a culture of reading and writing in schools. Each grade should have spelling lists, many of which are based on Latin roots. Students do not know either spelling or meaning. That makes them illiterate. Please click:

latin for png students - family positive living - aids holistics

familypositiveliving.blogspot.com/2011/09/latin-for-png-students.html

Sep 4, 2011 - In the years up to the 1960s, Australian students were educated in word 

building through Latin and Greek roots. Then with the chang

Students should be taught to use words in their correct meaning. As a student in the 1960s, I recall questions in exams that tested knowledge of words.

Write a sentence to show you understand the meaning of 5 of the following words - sincere, provoke, recognize, recede, revolution, mobility, rejection, supreme, compress, expel and vicious.

Many PNG students could never handle such a question. They are never required to explain words. There has to be a revolution in literacy in this country. Reading improves writing. Writing improves reading and speaking.

Literacy is the great dividing line among children in this country. If interested in reading and writing, the students go on to higher studies. If not, they stay in the village and towns and remain unemployed and unemployable.

I have two PNG daughters who have always read books. The elder would bring home library books. The younger would read the newspapers daily which was the main reason why I brought newspapers back to the house.

As a small child, she would be given a newspaper article to read. I would then ask her to tell me the story in her own words. That was the beginning of her success in school to the present time. She is in Grade 10.