The special six-week literacy and numeracy training programme for Grade Six students in about 45 primary schools countrywide is in full swing, the Government Information Agency (GINA) has reported.

The programme which is being conducted by the Ministry of Education through the National Centre for Resource Development (NCERD) has received heartening response from parents.

The programme is designed to help students who have already written the National Grade Six examinations cope with the secondary school programme in September. It targets students with low literacy levels across the country, who were assessed by their teachers at the various grades.

According to NCERD’s director Mohandat Goolsaran, “For the next six weeks we are concentrating on those students who are in need of literacy upgrade having completed the Grade Six assessments.”

The ministry has developed a curriculum which will guide the literacy teachers. A pre-test was administered to the students before teaching commenced and upon the programme’s completion another test will be administered and the results of both tests will be compared to determine the programme’s success. The programme which was introduced last year focuses on upgrading students’ literacy and numeracy skills and is an extra effort by NCERD and the ministry to fast-track literacy attainment.

“Our analysis has shown that, that short intervention has made significant improvement in the children’s literacy skills. Last year we had about 20% improvement and we are looking to double that in this cycle of the initiative,” NCERD’s director explained. This programme will run until mid-July.