PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Nadine Molloy-Young has expressed doubt about the Alternative Secondary Transitional Education Programme (ASTEP), a new programme to help slow readers leaving the primary leg of the education system.

She said not enough resources and teacher training are dedicated to poor readers in the education system, many of whom end up before the criminal courts.

She was addressing at the launch of I-PLEDGE, a series of educational activities sponsored by the GraceKennedy Group through the Western Union and in partnership with the other stakeholders at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew on Tuesday.

Students who had problems reading often became “angry and defensive” and was one of the leading causes of conflict in schools. “This I believe poses one of the greatest threats to the new ASTEP programme”, the JTA president said.

ASTEP is a new programme to be introduced this in September aimed at improving the academic performance of grade six students who were barred from sitting the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) for the first time this year because they did not pass the Grade Four Literacy Test, some after as many as four attempts.

Highlighting the challenges being faced by students, she said some “have to study under street lights” while others lived in communities “where the night noise is so loud that they are barely able to function”.

But in her presentation at the launch, chief education officer in the Ministry of Education Grace McLean said the ASTEP would help struggling students achieve their full potential in high school by improving their literacy levels.

“We have taken the approach that all our children must be able to read before they are placed n a secondary system,” McLean said, noting that high school students who cannot read are the ones who become violent and aggressive.

She acknowledged that intervention should begin before grade six, but that an effort was being made to identify reading difficulties from grade one.

“We had to start somewhere, but they does mean that we are going to stay here”, she said.

Commenting on the ASTEP, principal of Seaward Primary and Junior High School, Arlene Thomas said parents had been sensitised about the programme. “We have not encountered negative feedback because they believe that the programme is in their children’s best interest”, she said of the 13 students out of 92 who will go to ASTEP in September.

Meanwhile grade six teacher at St George’s Girls Primary and Infant School in Kingston, Janet Davids said only two students out of 85 would be heading to ASTEP — having failed the grade four test. “It must have been hard for them, but their parents were informed and are in agreement with it because they recognised that these girls had problems”, she said.

Speaking at the launch, chief operating officer of Grace Kennedy Group Don Wehby said his company has a long and proud history of supporting educational initiatives and institutions.

“I-PLEDGE is another of these important interventions as we realise investing in our youth is one of the most critical policies as a leading corporation in Jamaica”, he said.

Wehby called for other interventions across Jamaica “because our youth need to be channeled in a direction where they become a part of conversation about the interests and future of our country.”

I-PLEDGE, which literally means I Promise to Lend Encouragement to Develop Growth in Education, was introduced eight years ago and consists of a number of components, including:

* the Western Union Reading Week from April 4 to 8;

* the Western Union National English and debating competitions from April 20 to June 8;

* a $9-million computerisation programme; and

* a school community project.