JIS Donates Books to JIRC Reading Camp

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) has donated a series of its culturally-relevant publications to the Jamaica Intensive Reading Clinic (JIRC), which will, this summer, be hosting reading camps island wide.

The books are expected to be used in the camps, targeting children age six to 17, who are struggling with mastery of literacy.

The publications donated to the JIRC are: A Different Hurricane And Other Stories; Emancipation Tit Bits; Freedom Story; Jamaican Folk Customs And Beliefs; Proud To Be Jamaican: Activity Book 1; The Right Excellent Nanny Of The Maroons; What Is Our National Heritage?; and Wheel An’ Tun.

The packages were handed over by JIS Chief Executive Officer, Donna-Marie Rowe, at a ceremony at the JIS head office on Friday (June 16).

“Education is so important to the growth and development of our young people and for our nation. Without young people being literate, their development is stymied,” Mrs. Rowe said.

She noted that JIS’ donation to the JIRC fits very well into the Agency’s corporate social responsibility activities and reflects a commitment to contributing to the development of the Jamaican society and promotion of the country’s heritage.

“The donations we made, our titles on Jamaica, its heritage and culture will impact the young people, JIRC’s target group, positively. It will help them to feel better about us as Jamaicans, about themselves, about what makes us Jamaican, and just being able to appreciate where we are coming from as a people,” the CEO said.

JIRC Executive Director, Santana Morris, expressed gratitude for the donation, noting that the nature of the material is in line with the organization’s thrust to promote reading through the use of texts and stories highlighting Jamaican culture and heritage.

“We appreciate this very much and it will help us in getting children to have a better understanding of their culture,” she said.

The summer reading camp, to run from July 24 to 28, is expected to cater to some 1,500 children and will be held at 18 locations across the 14 parishes. It aims to help children in need of literacy intervention and will address the five main components of literacy – fluency, comprehension skills, vocabulary development, phonemics and phonological development.

Literacy specialists and principals have been engaged to recommend students most in need of the intervention. Registration forms will also be available online for parents to register their children for participation.

Some 800 volunteers, including 300 teachers, have been accepted to help in the teaching and running of the camps.