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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Supplement Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Plain talk
By Mursi Saad El-Din
A news item that recently attracted my attention was the appointment of a Children's Laureate in Britain. This is a new post originally proposed by the well-known children's writer Michael Morpungo. The proposal was further lobbied by the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes.
The main job of the new Laureate, Wuenton Blake, is to encourage youngsters to read literature. Like the appointment of the Poet Laureate by the Queen, this new appointment was announced by a member of the Royal Family, the Princess Royal. The appointment is for two years and carries with it a remuneration of ten thousand sterling pounds.
The Princess Royal's announcement came at a meeting attended by a great number of people, including the widow of Ted Hughes. Carol Hughes expressed her views about the appointment of what New Labour calls the people's Laureate. She said that her late husband wanted the post to be held in high esteem, even if this was at the cost of popularity.
Mr Blake's job involves visiting schools, giving lectures and encouraging an interest in literature and unlike the Poet Laureate he will not be required to write on national events.
Another interesting news item which links with this is the proposal to liven up dull lessons by employing comedians in the classroom. The proposal came in a report, just published in London, which suggests that unemployed actors should be brought into classrooms to promote creativity in schools. The report has been prepared by a creativity task force appointed by the government. The report claims that too much emphasis is put on literacy and numeracy in schools at the expense of imagination.
The report does not stop at that. It further attacks other key education policies such as the testing and school inspection regime, while advocating that more time should be given to the joys of creative activities which would stimulate children's interest in cultural activities. While the report accepts the need for a sustained literacy and numeracy strategy, it warns that this should not marginalise other areas of intellectual and personal development that are equally important in the early years and in primary schools.
There seems to be a real worry about the absence of culture in school curricula, an issue which is also worrying us in Egypt. Both in England and in Egypt there is a complaint that school children do not read enough. In my school days we had what was called free reading -- texts in Arabic, English and French which we had to finish in our own time.
To encourage reading, the British Education Ministry has started a Books for Schools campaign, launched in January. Eight million sterling pounds were earmarked for the project and already 620,000 books have been donated to different schools. Different institutions are partaking in the project, including such newspapers as The Sunday Times.
All these projects have come during what Britain has chosen to designate as The National Year of Reading.
