Domino a tool for improving educational standards at primary school level
With the Government declaring Tuesday, May 5 Read Across Jamaica Day, the National Association of Domino Bodies (NADB) used the opportunity to reach out to more students in an attempt to utilise the game as a tool for uplifting educational standards in primary schools across the island.
The day formed part of activities by the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) to celebrate Education Week from May 3 to 9, under the theme ‘Promoting Digital Transformation and Positive Values and Attitudes – Imperatives for Redefining 21st Century Education’.
The objective of the day is to promote the significance of reading and literacy locally.
Humbert Davis, first vice-president at NADB, said that his association’s aim is to build the nation through children, and the board game is seen as a pull and a tool to use in the development of students.
“The definition of reading is the process by which one looks at a series of written symbols and gets meaning from them. When we read, it is our eyes that we use to receive these written symbols, such as letters, punctuation marks, and spaces and then we use our brain to convert them into words, sentences, and paragraphs that communicate something to us. Reading teaches you new words and perspectives. It helps strengthen language and sharpens sentence structure and the students seemed to have enjoyed themselves as well,” Davis told the Jamaica Observer.
“To invest in our human infrastructure, we must start at childhood and continue through life, and these exercises are also expected to build the confidence and self-esteem in participants. Thus, with an aim to focus on areas in which students can use their strengths to build up themselves,” the vice-president continued.
Davis said that they were very successful as the students gained knowledge and were able to understand situations more as domino is a game which emphasises development and retention through play.
“Over the years, the NADB, while ensuring that the game of domino maintains its dominance as a sport for all, has worked assiduously to use the pull and popularity of domino as a cell site to develop and reinforce positive values, particularly focused on children.
“This initiative was successful for everyone. The students participated and they enjoyed themselves and it turned out that reading was actually fun. It was a very good initiative by the Government to declare today [Tuesday, May 5] as Read Across Jamaica Day as that gave us another opportunity to spread the love of domino across the island,” he ended.