IN what has been described as a “historic” and “significant” development in Guyana’s education sector, the Ministry of Education (MoE), on Friday at the Redeemer Primary School, officially launched the Atlantic Reader Books One – Six series of reading and workbooks.

The series, which will be used at primary schools across Guyana from grades one to six, includes a re-edited version of Atlantic Reader, Books One to Three, the completion of the Atlantic Workbooks One to Three, and the completion of the Atlantic Reader and Workbooks Four to Six.

The books were first conceptualised in 2012 by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, to avoid the high cost of importing such books at a time when many third world countries were disadvantaged in education due to the extraordinarily high prices for such textbooks.

“In 2011 when I assumed office as Minister of Education, we were faced with two challenges: one, we were using readers that were not as relevant to our children because they were prepared for other countries and two, we didn’t have enough of those readers for one per child,” Minister Manickchand explained when she delivered the feature address at the launch.

“We couldn’t continue to have books that were not enough or as relevant to our children and watching year after year poor results that evidenced poor literacy skills,” she said.

The Atlantic Reader Books one to three were first launched in early 2015, with the accompanying workbooks, as well as readers and work books four to six expected to follow shortly after. However, when the government was changed in May 2015, continuation of work on the project was completely stalled and no progress was made.

Produced in full colour, the Atlantic Reader books were created to aid in the development of reading skills, written with Guyanese culture in mind, with characters, pictorial representations and scenarios and is focused on a balanced approach of reading skills at the various grade levels.

Completion of the books is considered a pivotal part of the ministry’s wider vision to have all public school pupils be literate by Grade Four, which requires a book to read and a workbook to record their understanding of what they have read.

HELD ACCOUNTABLE
Minister Manickchand charged teachers to align their work plans with this goal in mind, as those in the school system have to be held accountable for pupils who cannot read at the Grade Four level.

“The system must demand and the nation is owed an answer to what happened at Nursery Year One and Two; Grades One, Two and Three levels. Where was the supervision at that level?” Manickchand said.

“This is a call to the teachers of this country to hold yourself accountable to a higher standard. If the children have to be reading by Grade Four, there are particular things you have to finish. You have to bring to the supervisor’s attention when children need further work. Let’s make a plan,” she urged.

Chief Education Officer (CEO), Dr. Marcel Hutson, and Assistant Chief Education Officer (Literacy), Samantha Williams, who were involved in the initial research and creation of the series in 2012, also delivered remarks at the launch.

“The series will undoubtedly help us to combat the challenges of poor literacy acquisition. We celebrate history today,” Williams noted.

In his remarks, Dr. Hutson pointed out how critical the development of reading skills at an early age is, and called for greater collaboration between parents, teachers and education officers to help to transform the literacy landscape of Guyana.

“If our students are not able to read at the initial stages in life, it becomes very problematic for them to advance. Failure to obtain necessary literacy skills in the early grades undermines children’s ability to success in school and life as they move into the later grades,” Dr. Hutson pointed out.

Also making remarks at the event, Head of the Learning Resources and Development Unit, Myra Moore, pointed out that the lack of completion of the reading series contributed to the widening of the gap between the education level of the hinterland and coastal pupils.

Representatives from several of Guyana’s international partners were also virtually present at the launch and delivered congratulatory messages on the achievement of the milestone.

Making remarks were World Bank Education Specialist, Ingrid Bjerke; UNICEF Deputy Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Irfan Akhtar; and CARICOM Human Resource Development Programme Manager, Dr. Laurette Bristol.