There has not been enough improvement in Bermuda's below standard literacy statistics over the past few months, according to Education Minister Milton Scott.

And he added that much of the responsibility for abysmal reading figures should be placed on parents, whom he said "need to take the time out to read and listen to their kids more in regards to literacy''.

Speaking to members of the Hamilton Lions Club last week, Sen. Scott stressed Bermuda's need for more improvement in the literacy field.

"When comparing figures from tests in February, July and October we can see that there has been some improvement in the past seven or eight months, but not enough,'' he said.

And Sen. Scott emphasised the importance of teaching and listening to students on an individual level.

"Government is currently developing programmes which deal with students on a one-on-one basis,'' he said.

Sen. Scott cited one such programme as "Reading Recovery'', a scheme which will see Primary Two students being read to and taught by teachers on an individual level.

"Of course, such a scheme is not cheap,'' he added, "and Government will have to pledge millions of dollars to such ideas in the near future.'' "However,'' he continued, "I think it is all money well spent. It's more positive putting money into this end of the scale than to have to spend it on the correctional facilities when the damage has already been done.'' Sen. Scott went on state his belief that Bermuda's literacy problems should be looked at with a "the glass is half full instead of half empty'' approach.

"Instead of looking at Bermuda having a severe literacy problem I like to see it in more of a positive light,'' he said. "There are some children on the Island who are reading less well than others.

"The question this raises is `What's going on in the kids' homes?' Parents need to read and listen to their children more.'' Sen. Scott said the question of parent-teacher relationships was being tackled in a Government programme which saw literacy results for individual schools being released to the various P.T.A.'s so parents would be more "enlightened'' as to how to go about tackling the literacy problem.

He added: "We've also started opening up dialogues with parents so that they can ask us questions in regards to subjects they would really like to know about.'' The Education Minister described the crux of Government's initiative to combat illiteracy as a single text book series called Literacy Place which is currently being used in schools throughout the Island.

"Also important is ensuring that staff are trained properly so they know exactly how to deliver the Literacy Place programme,'' Sen. Scott said.

He also placed emphasis on information technology.

He said: "At the primary level of schools, which is the area we are focusing on, we are working on placing computers in every classroom.'' He added that a special beginners' level programme, called WiggleWorks, had been installed to run hand-in-hand with the Literacy Place programme "to provide comprehensive coverage of literacy in every area''.

At this, Sen. Scott re-iterated the Government's need to spend millions of dollars on the I.T. commitment "if we want to have the cutting edge in technology being used in our schools''.

He also expressed appreciation for such programmes as the XL Education Initiative, which saw teachers being especially trained to teach students at CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley Institute in "not just information technology but also how to use I.T. in accordance with other subjects, including social sciences and maths''.

Sen. Scott continued to state that developments were being made in education's tertiary field as well.

He called Bermuda College one of the Ministry's "key focus areas'' and pointed to plans for the institution to perhaps become a "university-college'' in the near future.

Sen. Scott also outlined Government's pledge to "making literacy one of its top priorities''.

"We need everyone else to buy into that but we feel that,'' he said," with a collective will, it can be ensured that we have an education system that will carry us into the next Millennium''.