The Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Culture chaired today the meeting of the Regional Reading Plan Committee to assess the activities developed by this body and outline new strategies.

Luíz Fagundes Duarte stressed that the meeting, held at Maia Basic Education School in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, was organised with the purpose of reaching a consensus on some guidelines of the Regional Reading Plan, whose "main goal is to promote reading habits among Azorean children and youngsters."

It was concluded at the meeting that "another meeting should be held soon with the coordinators of Portuguese language teaching from all regional schools" so that they may provide their contributions, either through suggestions or criticisms.

"Basically, we intend to hear teachers of Portuguese language as they are the ones who work on the field," said the Regional Secretary.

Luíz Fagundes Duarte admitted that "as Azorean students already study works in Portuguese," the list of works that make up the Regional Reading Plan can also include "works in English by American authors or of Portuguese descent that focus on  Azorean themes, often in the context of emigration."

The Regional Secretary stressed the possibility of including works such as "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville, which portrays Azorean themes in some aspects. Furthermore, the government official also emphasised that this reading plan is addressed at teachers of Portuguese, but it also intends to include works in other languages, such as English or French.

With these changes, this initiative aims to encourage reading habits among Azorean children and youngsters, with special emphasis on works written in Portuguese, as well as to broaden their horizons, mentioned Luíz Fagundes Duarte.

The Regional Reading Plan was launched with the purpose of creating a reading guide for Azorean youngsters containing Azorean authors and works or those that depict Azorean themes in order to promote reading habits.