GREATER SUPPORT FROM THE MEDIA is needed to inform parents and children about the National Letter-Writing Competition.
Acting Postmaster General at the Barbados Postal Service (BPS) Margaret Ashby said there were 21 entries from three schools, 19 of which were submitted by students from Queen’s College (QC).
She said a greater effort would be made to reach more secondary schools going forward, but added there were always limitations in pushing the programme.
“Although every year we try to promote, we don’t get media coverage and if we had the media coverage we would be able to do a lot more. That is where we are restricted because we have to depend on GIS [Government Information Service] and they already have to focus on some many other departments,”
Ashby told NATION ONLINE the programme was “very important” as it sought to revive letter writing and other valuable skills.
“In this age of technology, letter writing is fast becoming a dying art. In its place we communicate via texting, WhatsApp, Skype, email and the list goes on.”
She said the change has also negatively affected literary skills and “from a postal perspective we too are affected as persons are no longer aware of the correct placement of stamps on their envelopes and this can greatly impact our speed of processing mail”.
At the finals of the competition held recently in the conference room at General Post Office, Cheapside, Senator Harry Husbands also agreed about the importance of the competition which is a part of the Universal Postal Union International Letter Writing Competition for Young People.
He acknowledged the skills of youth and keyboard usage but said “all the educational research indicate… that by putting your thoughts on paper, it helps to improve your cognitive skills in many, many, ways”.
“…we want [to compare] and benchmark the skills and abilities of our students internationally and certainly this competition offers teachers the opportunity to benchmark the skills and writing abilities of the students with an international standard,” he said.
The theme for the competition was Tell Us about the World You Grew Up in and it concluded with Kai Miller of QC being crowned the winner. Schoolmates Damian Trotman and Resheena Homer were second and third, respectively, while Amor Knight-Mottley of Christ Church Foundation and Xaria Bowen of QC tied for fourth place.
The winners were on hand to receive their prizes. Trotman, who was not present, was represented by his mother Lisa. (TSG)
