– now in all Regions of Guyana
DIRECTOR of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Mohandatt Goolsarran, has said the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) is now in all the regions of Guyana and that it is a success.
“The interventions we have made have worked…training continues and we are monitoring the performance of our literacy educators, as well as those involved in the programme,” he said.
Currently there are 370 peer educators spread across the country and approximately 8,000 children and 4,000 adults are involved in the afternoon sessions.
The FTI kicked off in 2008 and sought to include school children who are left behind at various grades of primary and secondary schools; out-of-school youths, especially those proceeding to technical/ vocational training; and adults who are only functionally literate.
Goolsarran stated that the initial target was 14,000, including children and adults, but there has been a drop.
The NCERD Director explained that the drop was because children are exposed to literacy programmes in schools.
“The Education Minister had called for schools to dedicate one hour to literacy and some teachers took up the challenge. So where there is a decrease in the number of children involved in the programme it is because they have access to similar initiatives in schools,” he said.
With the adults, however, Goolsarran said this is another issue and the adults are the programme’s greatest challenge.
“The adults are shy and they don’t want to be seen taking reading classes; and in some cases they only come, for example, when they need to fill out a passport form. When they have that skill they leave,” he said.
Additionally, Goolsarran said the mode of assessing the adult literacy level is being changed.
He noted that previously the assessment was done based on reading age and growth in that regard; for example an adult may enter the programme and be reading at age six, but leaves at a reading age of eight.    “We have to make the programme compatible with what is happening in schools and so now we have defined literacy standards which the assessments will be based on,” Goolsarran said.
The United National Education For All has set a goal of achieving 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuous education for all adults.
In Guyana, the level of adult literacy is not known, since there has been no formal survey to measure it. However, indications are that the levels are just enough to warrant an intervention.
The NCERD Director said additional educators are being recruited through non-governmental organisations and other entities.
He said, “We are working with employers and the Prison Service…in as much as it is not costing us, we have more people being trained, and when they go back to their organizations, they advance literacy skills.”
As part of the literacy drive, a National Literacy Unit was established in June and Goolsarran said it is effective.
The Unit, according to him, ensures that literacy programmes are delivered as they should be.
“They visit schools and provide on site support,” Goolsarran said.
He added that the work of the Unit is monitored through monthly meetings and monthly reports.
“Our interventions are working and it is being seen, for example the 2010 CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) exam results.
The United Nations Literacy Decade 2003 – 2012 acknowledged that literacy is a right and the foundation for all further learning.