By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterGRADE SIX students at the Iris Gelly Primary School have graduated from being terrified of reading to devouring books in two years.
They are among over 2,500 primary school students in the constituency of South St. Andrew who are benefiting from a remedial reading project implemented by Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Omar Davies who is also Member of Parliament for the area.
WORKING WELL
It is something which is working well for 11-year-old Lemoya Bloomfield, who reads with her father, and 12-year-old Chanieka Graham.
"I couldn't pronounce words. I couldn't read with expression and most times when Miss asked me to read (in class) I would tremble. I felt bad inside," recalled Lemoya. "I still tremble but I feel better now. In grade four, they put me to read (aloud in a reading competition) and I got a plaque," added Lemoya, who wants to be a managing director of a bank in the future.
For Chanieka, who wants to be a doctor or to teach remedial reading, the programme has been a God send.
"Before, I would not go stand in front of the class. I would say I can't read and if I read and miss out a word, kids will laugh at me and say I can't read. They would make fun of me saying you are a dunce bat, you can't read," she remembered. "But now I can read a book straight. I know my comma different from my pause and my exclamation sign. I know how to pronounce my words and I know how to speak English now," she added, before proudly reading, without pause, the first page of Jamaica Labrish, a book written by a woman who loved culture and language, Louise Bennett-Coverley.
Adults and basic school students with reading difficulties will be
further assisted from
an expansion of this
programme.
Horace Whittaker, special assistant to Dr. Davies said yesterday the constituency hopes to implement an early childhood and adult continuing education components early next year. "We are now registering adults because we want to make sure everybody gets caught in the net. We are registering persons from 16 years old and over. We want to concentrate on literacy, numeracy, skills training and on CXCs," he added. There will be orientation for adults later this month.
There have been meetings with basic school principals to discuss the basic school component of the programme and an early childhood education document is being prepared.
A SPIN-OFF
The new components are a spin-off of the constituency's primary reading project, established in 2000 after literary tests showed that students in two schools performed poorly. It aims to boost poor reading levels of students with special needs in the Boys' Town All-Age, Iris Gelly, Jones Town and Trench Town Primary schools and neighbouring Central Branch All-Age.
The project helps students to understand the links between sound and spelling, read with fluency, develop interest in words, among other things. The programme also tries to motivate parents to provide a support environment for the youngsters.
Since 2000, several of these students have improved, attaining high grades in the recent Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT). Since the programme, students have been "answering questions more intelligently and reading more fluently," said Evon Brown, principal of Iris Gelly Primary. Many students have gone to traditional high schools, she said.
