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Countrywide literacy programme to be launched next year – Manickchand
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand
Kaieteur News – Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on Tuesday revealed that come January next year, her ministry will rollout a massive National Literacy Programme aimed at ensuring every child knows how to read.
The Minister made the announcement during the launch of the Education Ministry’ Mathematics Intervention Programme which was held at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) complex.
During her remarks, the minister told those gathered that the world has a problem with mathematics and English and Guyana has to deal with both. “As we speak being literate is the foundation of all the nations’ problems, literate means read, understand, and comprehend. And so in January of next year only because we were unable to finish the resources for September of this year, we will launch out a National Literacy Programme that will be massive,” she related.
According to the minister, this programme will launch with the aim of making sure every single child could read by Grade 3 with a grace period to Grade 4. “It is expensive, it is resource heavy, it is very thought out and it is national. It will take into account the children who are entering nursery as well as the children who are already in secondary who cannot read. So you can imagine that that is going to be resource heavy in terms of persons managing it,” Manickchand explained.
It was reported that while the country recorded a decline in pass rate in mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination this year, English A also recorded a decline from 72% in 2023 to 69% in 2024.
Part of encouraging children to read, the Education Ministry on Monday launched the Primary School Libraries programme. In a release, the ministry reported that this programme is part of a major initiative which is aimed to inspire a lifelong passion for reading while developing critical thinking and creativity in students from a young age. The hope is that it will help learners also with being proficient in the area of literacy.
In her remarks at that launch, the minister said that these efforts are to promote literacy as a key foundation of education. “We recognise that the ability to read fluently and think critically is essential for success, both in school and in life. By making these books available to our children, we are not only investing in their academic future but also in the development of their imagination and self-confidence,” the minister stated.
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