JAMAICA is a step closer to realising the Ministry of Education’s target of 100 per cent competence in literacy and numeracy in primary and secondary schools, thanks to the now one-year-old Fun 4 Kidz after-school programme.

The brainchild of American educator, Andrew Post, with significant input from Jamaica-born American 400-metre runner, Sanya Richards, the programme incorporates academics and extra-curricular activities, designed to strengthen the literacy and numeracy skills of students.

Started in February 2008, Fun 4 Kidz was undertaken in two phases as a pilot project at Kingston High School.

Addressing a brief closing ceremony at the school last Thursday, Post noted significant improvements in the academic performance of the 130 students who participated in the two phases of the programme.

He said that the pilot project was initiated following discussions with Education Minister Andrew Holness in November 2007.

“Through sponsorships, primarily from Sanya Richards, Air Jamaica, (and) Digicel, Fun 4 Kidz piloted an eight-week version of the after-school programme with 55 students. Our staff (subsequently) crunched numbers to find a programme attendance rate of 51 per cent, and the student literacy rate of an average of between one and two grades higher than at the beginning of the programme,” he said.

Following a review of the initial phase and refinement of the deliverables, the second leg of the pilot was undertaken in October 2008 with 75 students, and culminated last Thursday.

“After another few visits, we witnessed our programme’s daily attendance rate rise to over 80 per cent,” Post said. “Although our final academic data for this year are now being calculated, our teachers and our observations suggest that we are poised to exceed last year’s success.”

Now, with the promise of continued support for the programme by Sanya Richards, Air Jamaica, Digicel, the Ministry of Education, and other stakeholders, the educator said that hopes for the growth and success of the programme continue to soar.

“As this occurs, we hope to include additional partners in this outstanding endeavour. We will turn to Jamaican business interests and to the United States Agency for International Development, as well as the United States Embassy, to help bolster this programme (so) that, while meeting the minister’s objectives, our educational plans – coupled with the resources available both on the island and abroad – will be the recipe for educational success (in Jamaica),” Post said.

Special advisor to Holness, Robert Miller, said, in the interim, that the decision to undertake the pilot at Kingston High was consistent with the ministry’s objective regarding attainment of 100 per cent competence in literacy and numeracy among the students across the island.

“It is only when our population is literate and numerate that Jamaica will be the place for us to live, work, and play,” Miller said.

Principal of Kingston High, Charles Reid, for his part, described Fun 4 Kidz as a welcomed addition to the school’s efforts to enhance literacy and mould children into better people.