Caribbean at the International Reading Association's Fifth Caribbean Regional Conference, which is scheduled for November at the Sonesta Beach Hotel.

Local organiser Juliette Harris, who is with the Department of Education, said parents who are interested in attending can get registration material through the reading specialist at their child's school.

"Arrangements will be made for other members of the public to register at other designated places, which will be announced at a later date. The deadline for registration is October 2,'' she said.

The conference will focus on children, although there will be sessions and workshops tackling adult literacy. It's theme: Literacy -- Passport to the Twenty First Century, is directed at the increasing demands for literacy on today's youth.

The sessions and workshops will cover an array of subjects, including What Schools Can Learn From Family Literacy Programmes; Children's Literature: A Basis For Developing Thinking; and Teaching on the Internet -- Preparing Teachers for the Twenty First Century.

The four-day conference, which is scheduled for November 6 through 9, will feature a parent and child day on the Saturday. Each participant can bring two children on that day, and the keynote speaker will direct the talk to both parents and children. Following that event, children will be treated to a story-telling session while their parents participate in a workshop.

Lunch has been designated as a nutrition break. "This is to show parents that there are a variety of nutritious snacks that they can provide for their children,'' said Ms Harris.

"We hope that people from the Caribbean, the US and Canada will come and interact with each other, create a dialogue and continue to collaborate with each other into the 21st Century, so they can create for the youngsters a nurturing society which will foster literacy.

"This conference is particularly important because a lot of Bermudians have ancestors from the Caribbean. It's literacy for the region, and we all have strong ties to the Caribbean. We have to enrich and strengthen that connection.''