Mr Lloyd Austin (left) and Director of NCERD, Mr Mohandatt Goolsaran, chatting about the importance of literacy“Teachers have long been poorly paid,” said Lloyd Austin when he reflected on the reason he left the education sector after offering his service as a teacher for 13 years. In fact,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, Austin, the proprietor of the Austin’s Book Store, revealed that he is aware of several teachers who left the profession to become taxi drivers.However,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, he ascertained that the problem of poor teachers’ pay is not exclusive to Guyana but rather is a problem worldwide.Austin’s bold comments were forthcoming when he spoke on behalf of stakeholders when the Ministry of Education observed International Literacy Day last week Tuesday.According to Austin, literacy in its simplistic form can be defined as having the ability to read and write. However in order to be truly literate, one must have a much wider ability.Austin reflected that it was at the recent award ceremony to mark part of the observance of 100th anniversary of the National Library that the Chief Judge for the debating competition lamented that even though the contestants knew their manner there was a poor literacy level exhibited.“The delivery was poor, English grammar was poor,Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale, and the skills of debating were not there so they got down to the dirty part of the game and got personal…”And there is need to help stem the backward trend in order to help improve literacy, Austin stressed. He as a result recommended that the use of a thesaurus become a compulsory tool in the hand of every teacher and school child.“Many teachers I know do not know the use and the value of a thesaurus. If you put a good thesaurus in their hand what does it do… it helps to expand children’s vocabulary and you need clarity to express yourself with clarity and with power.”“We know the power of speech. The other day we saw vividly when an unknown black fellow became the President of the United States.And three quarters of that accession to that office was a result of the power of that man’s speech. He had the command of language that was persuasive and that was very compelling…you had to listen.”According to Austin, throughout the ages there were people who got whatever they wanted because of the power of their speech.With the aid of a thesaurus, he said, persons will be prevented from overusing words, allowing them to use different words. He stressed that a thesaurus must be age-appropriate in order to help persons to learn relevant words for their age group, adding that it should not serve to confound an individual,NFL Jerseys Outlet, but rather to assist them.Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, in his address on International Literacy Day, said he is optimistic that “we are making headway in the new literacy methodology we have embedded in the school system. The new literacy unit is mandated to ensure that it continues and that teachers have the tools to deliver the curriculum.”The day was observed with a book fair and exhibition at the National Centre for Education and Research Development (NCERD), which according to Baksh was timely and should be sustained with collaboration from the National Library and be taken to each administrative region.“We don’t have to wait until Education Month to do that. This can be a mechanism to sensitise, to make the communities aware of the importance of books and reading. I have had discussions with the (National Library) Librarian of how we can take the Library to the people.”According to the Minister, libraries cannot only be in institutions in a country that has a wide geographical spread, thus the library must be moved to various communities. As such he pondered over the thought of putting in mobile library units.“I would like to see each region,NFL Jerseys China, and all of the areas that need it the most,Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys, with one of these mobile units. I will have to cost it out and seek some funding for that.”And it order to ensure that support would be given to the innovative venture, the Minister has since requested that NCERD work closely with the National Library, adding that there are resource persons employed at NCERD who are designated to address the concerns of school libraries.