Thirty children from the community of Agricola, on the East Bank Demerara, will benefit from a literacy programme launched yesterday.
The Youth Coalition for Transformation (YCT) is responsible for the three-month programme, which is intended to help children between the ages of 8 and 10.
The programme was launched at the Agricola Community Centre, where sessions for the classes will be conducted on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 12pm. Teaching will be done mainly from the Ministry of Education syllabus by members of YCT, who are volunteering their services. Once the new school year begins, classes will be rescheduled to accommodate the children.
President of YCT Jermaine Grant stated that the initiative, which started a few months back, was a result of YCT members recognising the need to engage young people for community development. He also encouraged parents to send their children out, while noting that classes for children between the ages of 5 and 7 and 11 and 13 will be conducted once there is a demand.
Also speaking at the launching was YCT member Lurlene Nestor, who encouraged parents to believe in their children and never give up hope because whatever comes out of a child impacts everyone.
The programme was described as a continuous assessment with a life span of three months and an assessment of the children’s educational level was done at the launch to determine the level of focus that must be placed on them. Lunch as well as stationery will be provided for the children during the sessions and provision will also be made for children of lower or higher age groups.
