Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who is a former teacher, has called on Dominican students to read more and learn how to differentiate between news and gossip.
Mr Skerrit, in admonishing students gathered at the Public Library for the opening of Black History Week on Monday, February 10, lamented the lack of reading among citizens on the island.
“With the advent of talk shows and, of course, we are not a hugely reading population; too many of us do not read in Dominica”.
“So when you listen to the talk shows, for example, every caller calls to react to what the previous caller said, not to draw to our attention to something that he has read and he would like to educate the masses”.
He noted that most of the talk show hosts are not well read and introduce topics “not knowing anything about the topic and the little that they know, they are not in a position to share it with the listenership”.
“We are going down a very dangerous road where those who are supposed to educate people through the mass media are not reading,” Mr Skerrit warned.
“If you are not reading how are you going to educate us? How are you going to inform us on new things and how are you going to guide us on the way forward,” he posited.
He therefore urged students to read extensively so that they will be able to differentiate facts from fiction and news from gossip.
Mr Skerrit also noted that it is important that the education system pays particular attention to these things and “not necessarily be too perturbed about the CXC results and how many 1s we can get and how many 2s we can get”.
Rather, the education system should ensure that it produces “students who can stand the test of time and who can withstand all of the pressures out there in the world, Dominica included”.
Source-Dominica Vibes News
