Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are many examples I can give you of failed lives due to literacy problems. One only has to glance at today's present system, or look at the homeless, drug addicted, or people in distress.
On a less sensational level, there are children struggling in school, where each year becomes more difficult because they are having problems reading. It holds them back in their intellectual development. At the end of their schooling, it leaves them with fewer options and a bleak future.
Literacy is a challenge for society today and the depth of the problems are multi-layered, Mr. Speaker. People who cannot read will have difficulties in their lives. They cannot get good pay and jobs. They cannot get good housing. Their children will suffer. They will suffer. Then it affects the generations coming behind them.
Also, Mr. Speaker, it affects the future of this Territory. If our people are not supported in literacy, they are getting short-changed and the Territory is losing out. There should be a more concerted effort on our part to spread reading and writing skills in the form of programs and dollars. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause