00:00World Read Aloud Day, an international observance designed to promote literacy
00:05while encouraging connection through the simple act of reading together.
00:10At Parvati Girls Hindu College, the school assembly took on a special meeting on Wednesday
00:15as students and teachers pause the academic routine to celebrate learning through words
00:20and storytelling. Can you turn to the person next to you and tell them let's celebrate learning?
00:30I know that sounds a little cheesy but this year the theme for World Read Aloud Day is
00:35let's celebrate learning. Ms. Ramjit says the initiative goes beyond reading for marks for
00:42examinations. It's about building confidence, encouraging expression and strengthening
00:47emotional connections through shared experiences. We want to encourage our students to read in a
00:54positive, intentional way. Pick up books that share folklore, traditions, historical evidence
01:02and we don't just want them to read aloud to themselves. We want for them to read to their
01:09parents, for their parents to read for them, for them to read to their peers, for us teachers and
01:14adults to read to our students. Not just for reading's sake but for that connection and that
01:20relationship that really needs to be fostered in 2026 where everybody is in the AI world.
01:27You know we just don't want to read from chat GPT, we want to read for you and me.
01:31Students were also given the opportunity to read aloud their own original pieces
01:36with selections spanning different languages and creative styles.
01:56Then it was time for the feature reader, yours truly or should we say respectfully yours.
02:02Miss Ovashituwari Rupnarain, she was actually at our sister school. She went to Lakshmi girls and
02:09the girls are so excited to hear her read to them and she's going to be reading one of our local
02:15authors and storytellers, Paul King's Douglas' The Day Anansi Beat Pan.
02:21Before my time, before your time, before anybody time, all the pan men in Trinidad and Tobago decide to have a contest to see who can beat the best pan in the whole world.
02:36And as all you know, Trinidad and Tobago is the home of the steel bar.
02:41Yes man, that is the place where the steel bar was born. But that's another story.
02:48Anyway, everybody was excited because the first price was $10,000 and a free trip to Egypt to see the pyramids.
02:58Why Egypt? I don't know and I didn't bother to ask. I only tell you the story as I know it.
03:04So Pan Trinbago, the big steel bar organization in Trinidad and Tobago, make a grand announcement on the TV.
03:14If you hear them, we had known to all the people of Trinidad and Tobago that a big steel bar competition will be held on the 1st of October to see who could beat the best tenor pan in the whole wide world.
03:29As a matter of fact, Anansi even used to invite his friends over to watch the TV through the neighbor window.
03:37He used to tell them how it'd have a drive-in TV in fully air-conditioned and when they arrived, he used to charge them $5 and was rude time.
03:48Anyway, from the time Anansi heard that the first price was $10,000, he said to himself,
03:54And it was crick-crack, monkey-breaky back for a penny pomerac.
04:17Educators say reading aloud plays a critical role in developing language, confidence and emotional awareness, supporting both academic performance and mental well-being.
04:29And hey, you can always find a career in news broadcasting.
04:33Urvashita Wari Rupnarain, TV6 News.
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