Parents back classroom role

EIGHTY-FOUR PER CENT of adults say they would be prepared to spend time, in partnership with schools, helping their children read and write, according to a survey, writes Diana Hinds.

The finding was welcomed yesterday by Neil McClelland, director of the newly established National Literacy Trust, which commissioned the survey of 1,000 adults, some of whom cannot read. The trust aims to support parents' efforts to help their children, and to promote national literacy initiatives.

More disappointing was the survey's finding that only 7 per cent of adults regard reading as fun - 58 per cent see it as a relaxing hobby, 29 per cent as informative, and 4 per cent as boring. The majority of adults still think the ability to read is more important than the ability to use computers. But 60 per cent predict that technological changes will mean people read less in the future.