Sayyidina Ali Secondary School Launches Own Reading Carnival
By Liza Mohd

Bandar Seri Begawan - With the National Reading Carnival 2006 launched to inculcate reading habits among students, Sekolah Menengah Sayy idinaAli (SMSA) in Belait also initiated an interschool carnival with mass reading activities in its classrooms.

About 1,300 students gathered in the secondary school's multipurpose hall to mark and launch the event, which aimed to create more awareness on the importance and benefits of reading in the ICT era.

In his speech, Principal Cheong Huat Joo highlighted the fact that UNESCO had declared September 8 as the International Literacy Day, and this year, it carries the theme `Literacy Sustains Development'.

He stressed that at present, more than 100 million of the world's boys and girls are not enrolled in school, while more than 770 million adults are illiterate. "This means that they do not have the tools to take advantage of new learning opportunities, respond to changing occupational demands, undertake greater responsibilities, build their way out of poverty or protect themselves against diseases like HIV/AIDS," he said

The principal also spoke about the school's existing literacy club activities, and said a reading room is also planned. He further advised students to make full and frequent use of the library, as PMB and BGCE `O' Level exams are only about a month away.

During the launching ceremony, students were entertained with Syair readings and poetry recitals, which were followed by teachers conducting mass reading activities.

The SMSA Reading Carnival, which carries the theme 1 `Reading Empowers', is one of the initiatives of the Reading Programme's Steering Committee under the Ministry of Education, as well as being a follow-up to the guidelines that were distributed to primary and secondary schools in July this year.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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