Improvement shown in Region Six’s literacy and numeracy

With more emphasis placed on literacy and numeracy within East Berbice-Corentyne, Region Six, there has been a marked improvement in the results of both the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations.

Regional Education Officer (REdO) Volika Jaikishun told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that while the administration is not permitted to support any initiatives outside of the Ministry of Education, they have “began to emphasise literacy at the primary level where we (Region Six) have the Regional Literacy Committee with teachers who would have done developmental courses in literacy and so would visit the schools that they are responsible for and give assistance to the teachers within those schools”.

According to Jaikishun, the Regional Coordinator and Monitors would usually visit schools from Monday to Thursday then prepare departmental reports for further reference. She noted they have received feedback from teachers who say the initiative has been beneficial as they are able to attain content and methodology from information given.

The REdO added that they are refining the programme and will continue to since, “this year we (Region Six) have seen that it has helped to improve our assessment performance”. She noted that there have also been significant improvements in overall subjects within the region.

As a result of the level of success seen in the performance of Grade Five and Six students last year, Jaikishun hopes that the monitoring aspect of the initiative is also conducted on Grade Three students.

In 2016, Government introduced the Mathematics Intervention program to help students develop a clearer understanding in the subject area. For months the pupils and their teachers were exposed to the special program, which introduced a number of innovative ways to teach and practice Mathematics.

Source:http://gina.gov.gy