Enhancing literacy standards…
DIRECTOR of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Mr. Mohandatt Goolsarran has announced that, with defined new literacy standards, efforts are being made to establish other centres to meet the needs of approximately 5,500 people.

He said the locations identified are Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara; La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara and at St. Cuthbert’s Mission, where classes are expected to start soon.

Goolsarran said those places were selected because the Education Sector’s Fast Track Initiative (FTI) has not previously put focused on them but he maintained that, through it, significant progress was made in bettering literacy in Guyana since its 2008 inauguration.

According to him, there were 9,030 beneficiaries in 2009, 1,780 of whom are adults and early school leavers.

Goolsarran said, although work began in 2008, a literacy unit was only established last year at NCERD and it advances the FTI while focusing on the formal (school) and non-formal learning environments.

National and Regional Coordinators are assisted by approximately 365 literacy educators and a number of those coordinating are spread across the 11 education districts.

Goolsarran disclosed that the project was also taken to the prisons and officers there received special training to educate the inmates.

He said, to bolster an understanding of the common goal for all participants, training was made available at NCERD for District Education Officers (DEOs) as well as headteachers of nursery and primary schools.

“When the literacy specialists go into the schools, the heads will be able to adjust and the programme will fit into the regular routine nicely,” Goolsarran posited.

He said 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are partnering with NCERD in the thrust and 31 of the 365 literacy educators are from them.

Goolsarran said literacy programmes are conducted at 176 centres countrywide on school premises, at bottom houses, community centres and benabs and church halls, by coordinators and educators who underwent rigorous training, with guidance from training and assessment manuals.

He mentioned that all teachers will be trained in the new literacy methodology being advanced, on the basis of set international standards and guidelines.

Goolsarran said teacher education continues to be a priority and regional strategies, developed on the strength of past successes, will see specialists advancing continuous professional development in Guyana.

He appealed to teachers to identify students with inadequate literacy skills for extra tuition after school, noting that, last August, some beneficiary children completed the Grade Six Assessment and were preparing for secondary school while still deficient in literacy and a six weeks programme called a ‘stop gap’ arrangement was executed.

Goolsarran said teachers who assisted with that endeavour were given stipends for going the extra mile and that rewarding will continue, in keeping with the Education Sector’s five-year strategic plan.