JOHOR BARU: Some 70 participants from all over Johor are expected to attend the first New Straits Times-Newspaper in Education (NST-NIE) workshop at the Grand BlueWave Hotel here on July 8.
The half-day workshop is free for mums and dads, and will emphasise on the role of parents in helping to inculcate the reading habit in families.
It is organised by the Johor English Language Teaching Association (Jelta) and will be conducted by English language lecturer and Jelta president, Vincent D’Silva.
This is the second time this year that the hotel is sponsoring an NST-NIE workshop.
On May 8, the hotel sponsored a one-day NST-NIE workshop for 155 primary and secondary school English teachers.
Grand BlueWave hotel general manager Long Cheow Siong said the establishment was honoured to be part of the NST-NIE. He said it was high time the hotel invested boldly in education, in a way that will produce desired results.
“We feel honoured to be part of this effort as we believe that parents are important role models for their children.
“If parents take an interest in reading, children will observe them and be motivated to read themselves.
“While good intentions are a good starting point, it takes planning and coordination of efforts and resources to achieve educational objectives,” Long said.
He said collaborations between experts, educational authorities, students, parents and the private sector could help to inculcate the reading habit.
“In this spirit, we believe that our contribution towards this effort in bringing parents together for a workshop on reading newspapers will go a long way in encouraging more workshops to be conducted for parents in the spirit of lifelong learning,” he said.
Long said parents who are lifelong learners will have a positive impact on their children to be lifelong learners as well.
Meanwhile, D’Silva, who has experience conducting NST-NIE workshops for the past 19 years said that parents attending the workshop will explore the joy of learning English through fun-filled activities.
He hoped the parents will discover the potential of NST as a tool for them to teach their children English.
Parents will turn students for a day and have hands on opportunity to actually engage in fun-filled activities that will help them appreciate the newspaper as a source of immense knowledge that is useful for them and their children.
“When parents read the newspapers, children are bound to follow,” D’Silva said.
He explained that parents have the greatest impact on their children especially during childhood.
In order to attend the NST-NIE workshop at the Grand BlueWave Hotel in Johor Baru on July 8, parents must have at least one school-going child. Both parents may also attend.
Those wanting to participate in the free workshop can contact Lisa Ng at 018-3718533.