Spinning Top In Mud

If you are from Trinidad and Tobago, you most certainly are familiar with the term "spinning top in mud." Basically it means that one can be doing a lot of stuff to achieve an end but the sad truth is that you are proceeding nowhere.
This idea comes to mind when one considers the literacy problem which exist in T&T. Let's just begin at 1990 which was designated to be International Literacy Year by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). During this period and beyond a number of literacy initiatives have been implemented as a panacea to our literacy problem, yet still it persists. One often wonders therefore on the seriousness of our society in addressing such issues. Are we spinning top in mud?
To answer this question let us consider the following: What were the end result of projects done by The Committee of International Literacy Year in TT (COMILYTT)in 1990? Did project R.E.A.D help us? Why were we ranked seventh among 31 countries that participated in a reading literacy study? This is according to a report issued by the International Organisation for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Reading Literacy Study called "How literate are we?" and conducted in Trinidad & Tobago between 1989 to 1992 (Trinidad & Tobago Express, 1993).This list could have continued.
Furthermore, Laurel B. Ince, a then lecturer in English Literary Studies at Valsayn Teachers College responded to an article written on the front page of the Trinidad Express in 1993 by Fulton Wilson entitled "TT Fails Reading Test." She proposed seven concerns that she thought the national policy on education may need to hurriedly address. These included:
- All primary schools should have a library
- All schools must have several copies of the daily newspapers.
- There should be a stipulated period for silent reading each day to be followed by
a discussion/sharing on what was read.
- There should be a reading teacher to deal with reading disability on a one-on-one basis in all schools.

Seventeen years down the literacy road are we any better off? If not, where have we gone wrong? Are we just implementing programmes after programmes without a soild system to support and sustain them? Are we spinning top in mud?
It is my view that we really need to tackle this problem head on and relentlessly until it abates. Tell me what you think?

Picture retrieved from Bing Images.