STERLING Products Limited (SPL) yesterday hosted a literacy graduation ceremony for 14 of its employees who participated in the fast track initiative programme.
It was the fifth year in which SPL, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, undertook to improve the skills of staff.
In June 2011, three staffers were given the opportunity to participate in the Literacy Educators Training Course conducted by the National Literacy Unit at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) under the theme ‘Letting Literacy Link Lives’.
In turn, the trio became the facilitators for taking a new SPL group through literacy classes, which began in August 2011 and concluded last December.
Of the initially shortlisted 21, 14 accepted the challenge to sacrifice their time and energies for the purpose. The classes were in two groups, A and B and each was held twice weekly for a duration of one hour per class.
During the first two months, the content of the focus was on English Language and to raise phonetic awareness, reading and writing skills and listening comprehension, which was done using the Fast Track Adult Workbook as a primary tool.
Revision sessions were also incorporated at regular intervals to refresh students of pass covered content and as the course progressed, Mathematics was added, using the Skills for Success Math Workbook. The content of the twice weekly classes was then alternated between English Language and Mathematics.
A progress exercise followed to objectively determine how successful the course was in bridging the learning gaps between entry and exit performances of those who participated.
The participants who received gifts and certificates were Sheldon George, Troy Seecharran and Abdool Subrati from the Detergent Department; Mohamed Ali and Davindra Mahrendre from the Engineering Department; Kemrajie Persaud, Mohamed Jamal Rahman and Avinash Persaud from the Utility Department; Teon McBean from Edible Fats; Ramesh Mohitram from Sales; Gouslyn Williams from the Ice Cream Department and Mahamed Wazim Khan from the RM Bond.