Fifteen primary schools have been selected to receive $6,500 from a US$36,000 grant made available by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the OECS Education Management Unit to develop a programme to help to improve reading at the early grades.
The schools are The Newtown Primary, Morne Jaune Primary, Mahaut Primary, Goodwill Primary, Kaleb Laurent Primary, Castle Bruce Primary, Dos D’Ane Primary, Wesley Primary, Paix Bouche Primary, Penville Primary, Bense Primary, Colihaut Primary, Baroness Patricia Scotland Primary and Salisbury Primary.
Teachers and Principals of the various schools received the donation at a two-day OECS/USAID Early Learners Programme opening ceremony held at the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) Building on Monday.
“This is certainly another way that we can provide support to our schools in their effort to improve reading standards at the respective institutions,” Education Minister Petter Saint Jean said while delivering remarks at the ceremony. “You just heard that fifteen of our primary schools have been selected to receive a maximum of $6,500 towards what we consider a sustainable reading enhancement initiative.”
He continued, “The project, which will be developed over the next two days through what is being called the Innovative Lab Session, will have the potential to build enthusiasm for and competences in reading.”
Saint Jean revealed that the primary schools were specifically selected having met the criteria that were required.
“It is our hope that the successful implementation of this project, together with all the other initiatives towards literacy improvement that there will be a mass improvement in the reading performance of students at all of these 15 schools,” he remarked.
He pointed out that that reading is fundamental to functioning in today’s society.
“An individual is limited in what he or she can accomplish without good written skills and as an education system that functions with the vision that each child succeeds, it is imperative that we empower our students with the capacity to improve their reading competences,” Saint Jean stated.
He stated further that there are many benefits to implementing such a programme at the early primary level.
“Ensuring that children develop these important skills early means that they will have a solid foundation on which to build and develop their intellectual capacity…” he noted. “It is important because it develops the mind and understanding the written word is one of the ways that the mind grows in its ability, and so teaching young children to read helps them to develop their language skills which is necessary for learning of all other subjects.”
Saint Jean mentioned that through reading children discover new things.
“They now live in an age where there is an overflow of information and reading is the gateway to take advantage of this information and develop their imagination and creativity,” he said. “We want all of that for our students, because we want them to be dynamic citizens, armed with the ability to learn well and to grow from strength-to-strength in their intellectual development.”
Furthermore, he said in order to increase students achievement levels teacher’s training is key.
“Our teachers must have the competence to effectively implement techniques and methods that help children to learn to read from a very early age,” Saint Jean explained.
He added, “They need to be able to teach the requisite decoding and comprehension skills that are essential for reading.”
Saint Jean pointed out that as educators, “we often take these skills for granted” assuming that students will naturally adopt these abilities as they move through the school system.
“Instead, these skills must be meticulously taught so that our students grow into active readers, able to better appreciate the written word and its various interpretation and meaning,” he remarked.
He urged teachers and principals to make the best of the knowledge and skills that have been gained over the past year and to use the opportunity that they will be afforded with over the next two days, to arrive at a project proposal that will enhance the reading ability of the students at their various schools.
Meantime, OECS/USAID Early Leaners Programme (ELP) Project Coordinator, Simone Browne said in Dominica, through the ELP, USAID collaborates with the OECS to support 58 schools, over 280 classrooms and nearly 4,200 students to improve their reading programme.
According to her for the ELP Dominica is one of six [6] OECS countries benefiting from the programme, with the others being Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Vincent & the Grenadines.
She said, “We all play a vital role in maintaining and strengthening this partnership.”
Browne said the OECS the grants in the past had been used for projects such as parenting support, working with struggling readers among others.
The Early Learners Programme was launched in 2015 and its main aim is to improve the reading achievement level of all students at the early primary levels from Grade-K to Grade-3.
BLAH, you are exactly the reason why there is this need to create initiatives like these to help support an updrade in READING. READ TO UNDERSTAND. Who said the funds were for upgrading school buildings? Read the article again and be thankful that Dominica is being given this special attention under this initiative. Fool!!!!
do these schools have programs or plans to implement this money for what it was intended? or will they just use it to pay bills and do other things like upgrade of school buildings?
Seriously???????? Can a $6000 upgrade school buildings???
Did u donate any fool