THE Education Ministry’s Mashramani Costume Band will take to the streets this year in full numbers and bright colours under the theme ‘Literacy in Flight via Information Communication Technology’. Both disciplines, particularly literacy, have been priority areas on the Ministry’s programme in recent years and the troupe will be sounding the trumpets, inviting all partners to get on board and push to incorporate interactive communication technology in education delivery, a release said.
It said the National Literacy Unit (NLU) has been maintaining constant, focused programmes, to raise standards at all levels of the system and the workforce, with 340 educators working, both with in-school learners and out-of-school youths in all the education districts countrywide. 
Strong emphasis is also being placed on numeracy at all technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and, to date, the programmes have recorded encouraging results, the release said.
Notably, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) has been working with the NLU to improve literacy among inmates and so, too, a number of the corporate private sector agencies, to train their workers, the Ministry said.
During the last July/August vacation, 13,500 children at the primary and secondary levels benefited from a remediation stint designed to correct their weaknesses in the areas of literacy and numeracy.
The Ministry’s competency-based approach to education is supported by critical assessments at Grades Two and Four at the primary level and a Literacy Certification component has been added to the National Grade Four Assessment.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh said that the latter intervention will put teachers under more pressure to perform and he renewed his call to those at every grade at the primary level to dedicate at least one extra hour after school daily to work with slower learners to improve their educational outcomes.
He said many teachers responded but all have to come on board to address the weaknesses of pupils at the primary level to avoid a spill-over to secondary schools. 
Baksh also emphasised that parents have a key role to play in this process and suggested that they present their children with books, as gifts, read to them and teach them to read.
He maintained that such simple measures will make a significant difference in not only building the children’s vocabulary but also strengthening the emotional bond they share as a family.