EXPRESSING concern about the number of high school students who are functionally illiterate, the leadership of the island’s teachers’ union is calling for more resources, better teacher training and the support of parents to tackle the problem of illiteracy.

While acknowledging the policy changes that have resulted in more focus on the problem, the teachers say more can be done to reduce the number of students who cannot read.

President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Nadine Molloy says while there are shortcomings, much has been done to address illiteracy in secondary schools in the last decade.

“Ten years ago we didn’t have literacy specialists in the system. We had to hire primary school teachers who were trained to teach little children, and that caused problems when they attempted to teach teenagers who cannot read,” she told the Observer Press Club on Thursday.

The newly installed president, who is on leave as principal of Buff Bay High School in Portland, called for more appropriate training of teachers in literacy and numeracy skills, and urged the provision of incentives and bursaries to facilitate this.

She also called for improved facilities, particularly in non-traditional high schools.

“We must be courageous enough to say, let us bring up the non-traditional schools. Many of these schools only have one science lab for the entire school,” Molloy said.

The JTA president also called for more testing to identify children with special needs at the early childhood and primary levels.

Parents, she added, also need to be held responsible for their children’s education and development.

“We need to get the parents involved. Children should not be on the streets (during school hours). When they come to school, some did not sleep the night before, some are abused and some are told they will not amount to anything,” she noted.

The Government, led by Education Minister Andrew Holness, has placed greater emphasis on literacy and numeracy, with the publication in the press of the grade four tests, training of more literacy specialists, and a policy to prevent the promotion of illiterate students to high school, which should take effect in September 2011.

Molly’s views were supported by principal of Tarrant High Albert Corcho, who agrees that more effort is needed to reduce illiteracy from an early age.

“As policymakers we have to look again at what is happening at the primary and early childhood level. Too many students are coming through without the proper foundation,” he says, while lauding the Government’s move to put more resources at the early childhood level.

Corcho says approximately 20 per cent of Tarrant’s grade seven intake each year reads below the grade level. The school employs a number of programmes involving Information Technology and reading specialists to improve the performance of these students who are mainly boys.