Literacy woes plague three western parishes

Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

GRADE-FOUR students in Hanover, Westmoreland and St James, parishes which comprise the Ministry of Education's Region Four, have performed below the national literacy rate of 81 per cent in the Grade Four Literacy Test (GFLT).

Literacy specialist in the Ministry of Education, Dr André Hill, said the literacy rate for Region Four derived from the GFLT is showing a 65.5 per cent, which is below the national level.

He explained that following a resit of the GFLT in December of each year, it was discovered that those children who failed to gain mastery the second time were in need of specialist help.

"We have seen that some children are suffering from moderate to severe mental retardation, which has seriously affected their intellectual abilities, and they would need special attention," he said.

Hill said while the ministry has national standards for teaching literacy from grades one to six, it was now in the process of designing a series of additional programmes to assist the 19 per cent of children across the island with special needs who have failed to master the GFLT.

"The programmes include One-Two-Three Literacy for grades one to three, and Four-Five-Six for four to six, which also has materials to support it, including the Doctor Bird series," he said.

Speaking regarding programmes to address illiteracy outside of the primary system, Hill indicated that the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL), which is an affiliate of the ministry, is working with volunteers to deal with this.

INCREASE IN YOUNG PARTICIPANTS

Information from JFLL officers in western Jamaica indicate that there has been a major influx of younger people, especially males, dominating the classes offered in western Jamaica, which points to a shift from the once adult-dominant focus of the agency, which formerly operated as the Jamaica Adult Literacy programme, commonly called JAMAL.

"We have seen where more young people have been attending classes. Some come to attain a certain level so that they are able to fill out forms at the bank or to get a driver's licence, and then some stop because they have to 'hustle' to finance the family," manager of the JFLL in St James, Deloris Samuels, told Western Focus.

St James has two adult education centres, with classes being held in several communities in the parish.

Her Westmoreland counterpart, Oliver Williams, expressed similar sentiments, citing that students sometimes stop attending because they have to go to their farms or engage in other activities.

"We are also battling the stigma which has been associated with adult literacy classes, which is a hangover from the time when the agency operated as JAMAL. People shy away from attending classes as they feel embarrassed to be in literacy classes, as it points them out as not being able to read and write well. They do not want to be called 'dunce' by their peers."