A Minister's View: Jane Hutt

Mar 6 2008 Western Mail

THE 21st century is the age when electronic media dominates the lives and recreational activities of our young people.

However, Facebook is no substitute for a real book, where the power of the written word to inform, educate and entertain remains as strong as ever.

Just as a small boy once remarked many years ago that he preferred radio to television because the “pictures” were better, so the words on a page can evoke images as colourful and thrilling in a child’s imagination as anything technology can create on a screen.

That’s why it’s so exciting for me and ministerial colleagues to have the opportunity today to join with partners across Wales in marking Unesco World Book Day – the annual celebration and promotion of literacy and reading. Thirty countries took part in 2007 and hopefully even more will do so this year.

Next week, here in Wales, we will also launch our second National Year of Reading – 10 years after the first such event was organised by the Welsh Books Council.

The Assembly Government is funding the Welsh Books Council to lead and co-ordinate this National Year of Reading, which will complement ongoing work flowing from the second all-age National Basic Skills Strategy for Wales, launched in 2005.

Developed in partnership with Basic Skills Cymru, Cymal and Estyn, the year-long programme will bring together local authorities, libraries, schools, early years settings, colleges, publishers, communities and families to place reading closer to the heart of people’s daily experiences.

Activities range from new and customised campaigns to ensuring the initiative receives a high profile at Wales’ flagship events, such as the Royal Welsh, the Urdd and the National Eisteddfod.

Our aim is to create a sense of excitement around a fascinating medium that has been with us for thousands of years and will be with us, no doubt, for many thousands more.

I am convinced that we need to take every opportunity to persuade children, and many adults also, that reading is a skill fundamental in managing just about every aspect of their lives.

Whether on the printed page, computer screen or mobile phone, the capacity to work with written words contributes immensely to our successful participation in and enjoyment of life.

It builds confidence, broadens the scope of our ideas and enables us to navigate our way through everyday challenges, whether in our jobs, cooking meals, seeking new experiences or developing new relationships.

Cultivating the ability to read and write to a high standard, and developing a love for books in particular, unlocks so much that is beneficial for individuals, that we must use this year to encourage people of all ages to get the reading habit.

We in Wales have much to live up to in this respect. Thanks to the efforts of itinerant Carmarthenshire preacher Griffith Jones, who toured the country teaching old and young to read and write, Wales was reputed by 1750 to have had the highest literacy rate in the world. Around half the population are said to have attended the “circulating schools” he organised, and Catherine the Great of Russia was so impressed that she commissioned a report into his methods.

Reading and writing to a high level represents the path of progress for literally everybody in our society. For a variety of reasons a significant number within our communities have been missing out. This includes a significant number of boys and young men. We need to rectify this. It’s vital that, in this increasingly competitive 21st century, our literacy skills are among the best in the world.

Today and over this coming year, I hope we can reduce substantially the number who find themselves on the margins of the world of literacy and open the door for many to explore further the enriching realm of the written word.

Jane Hutt is Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills