Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn has expressed concern about the decline in this year’s national average English score in the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination, warning that literacy challenges could limit future opportunities for the country’s children.

Speaking recently at the opening of Babb’s Reading Clinic at the Barbados Community College, he said the national average English score had fallen from 72.5 per cent last year to 64.2 per cent this year.

“I don’t need to tell you that we need to jump-start, kick-start and amplify our efforts,” he told the gathering of parents, educators, sponsors and more than 100 boys enrolled in the five-week programme.