With the reintroduction of the 'Drop Everything and Read' (DEAR) programme for this academic year at Petersfield High School in Westmoreland, The Gleaner will be used heavily to promote reading among students at the school.

According to Eugenie Spence, principal, students have not been reading enough and the literacy level at the school is low, hence the reintroduction of DEAR.

Spence spoke of the need for the programme, as students were only performing well in the vocational subjects at Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level in subject areas such as office administration, typing, home economics, home management, but not in English language and mathematics.

She told The Gleaner that a literacy co-ordinator and literacy teacher have been assigned to the programme to assist the students at the school which started on September 14, 1970. The Gleaner's newspapers have proven useful in all the subjects. Violet Williams, English teacher and participant at the second series of The Gleaner's Newspaper in Education (NIE) workshop in April, said it was very informative, and plans to incorporate some of the strategies and techniques from the workshop into her classes.