Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports, Cynthia Forde, speaking at the Grantley Adams Memorial School‘s Literacy Workshop on Monday, August 27. 

All primary school teachers should be trained in the area of Early Childhood Education in order to carry the children forward.

This is the view of Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Cynthia Forde, who was addressing the opening ceremony of the Grantley Adams Memorial School’s Literacy Workshop on Monday. 

Pointing out that training in this area was crucial, Ms. Forde said: “Different children have different modes of learning.  Some can learn information by heart, while others need to see, touch and practise.”

Agreeing with the Minister, Chief Education Officer, Wendy Griffith-Watson, said that students would be more successful once teachers understood their strengths and weaknesses and redefined the curriculum to meet their needs.

Chief Education Officer, Wendy Griffith-Watson, at the Grantley Adams Memorial School‘s Literacy Workshop on Monday, August 27.

Mrs. Griffith-Watson also stressed the importance of using Standard English in the home, noting that children whose parents did not communicate with them in Standard English often had difficulty reading.  She also dismissed the myth that certain students were not suited for academic work. “All aspiring plumbers, mechanics and electricians must have academic certification, which will show their employers, ‘I can read’.“

Literacy Workshop Coordinator, Undene Shorey, said that first formers of the Grantley Adams Memorial School and some primary school students in the community were participants of the literacy workshop. She explained that the children would be tested on phonics, silent reading, structure analysis and other areas and “a diagnostic report will be compiled and distributed to teachers, so that they will have a better idea as to how to structure their lessons”.

The children will also be involved in various reading activities, including interactive computer-related reading programmes.

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