Published 4 December 2023
Basseterre
Buckie Got It, St Kitts Nevis News Source
HANDS ACROSS THE SEA LAUNCHES EARLY PAGES PROGRAMME
Basseterre: St. Kitts, Monday, December 04, 2023: Hands Across the Sea, an international
non-governmental organization (NGO), launched a literacy focus initiative titled, Early Pages
Programme on Wednesday, November 29. The ceremony, held on the Industrial Site Preschool
compound, was attended by Mrs. Lisa-Romayne Pistana, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Education, Ms. Kimona Browne, Director, Early Childhood Development Unit (ECDU) and
other stakeholders.
Mrs. Eleanor Phillip, Hands Across the Sea Literacy Link – St. Kitts shared the objective.
“The programme aims to integrate and support literacy as an explicit aspect of the preschool
programme thereby helping to raise literacy awareness among the children in our early childhood
centres. The Early Pages Programme also provides opportunities for parents’ involvement.”
Mrs. Phillip encouraged all stakeholders to make adequate use of the resources to promote and
develop the literacy skills of the pre-schoolers.
“We are committed to working directly with our stakeholders – students, librarians, teachers,
principals and the Ministry of Education to ensure that all students have access to libraries and
literacy resources. I am therefore asking the ddirector, rresource teachers, ssupervisors, and
teachers: to 1. Ensure that the children use the books. Please do not keep the books in boxes or
on shelves as if they are on exhibition. 2. Encourage parents to borrow books to take home to
read with or to their children. 3. Please keep records of the number of times the books are used.
Insist that the teacher/s responsible for the books keep weekly book borrowing records. It is our
hope that by reading to the children and having the children picture-read and tell their own
stories they will raise their level of literacy.”
Hands Across the Sea, a non-profit Literacy Organisation was established in the Eastern
Caribbean in 2007.
