THERE has been a decline in the national averages by six percentage points for literacy and four percentage points for numeracy at the grade 4 level, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information announced yesterday.

Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid said the ministry, in response to the decline, will be rolling out several examination strategies along with teaching-learning processes to address the matter.Senator Reid, when asked at a press conference at his ministry what were the reasons for the decline in literacy and numeracy, said there there were several factors that could be at play, but noted that testing is an assessment of several variables.“So you look at a trend rather than look on a year-on-year (basis), as we find that because of the nuances you’ll see some dips. We did see for quite a few years recently there was an upward trend, and then there was some amount of fall last year, so we don’t have an accurate assessment of all the variables,” Reid told reporters.He continued: “… If we see a downward trend in the next five years we know obviously there is a crisis, because we should be in a position to be identifying the issues impacting, to identify if it is an issue with the assessment instruments themselves or is it a question of how we are preparing our students.”According to the education minister, the response to the decline will include three main elements, taking the form of standardised assessment in order to inform the ministry’s support staff and schools on weaknesses in key areas and guide decision-making with respect to interventions. There will also be capacity building for teachers, including structured content and strategy-based sessions informed by areas of weaknesses from the mock exams, and, finally, student support activities, which have taken the form of small group interventions and camps.Reid stated that his ministry will continue to be guided by the work of the Mathematics Consortium and the National Mathematics and Literacy Advisory Committees. Additionally, the work of these national committees are to be further extended by regional committees which will pay keen attention to literacy and numeracy issues in particular pockets of schools in each region.“To date, approximately 800 grade 4 teachers have been trained by the national literacy team as it addreses key areas of concern in students’ preparation for sitting the grade 4 Literacy Test. In addition, approximately 500 grade 4 students, deemed to have significant challenges in literacy, received direct support from the national literacy team,” Reid outlined.He added that, in some critical schools, parents of grade 4 students have been engaged by the national literacy team. Reid stated that the results of the Grade 4 Numeracy Mock Examination, administered in January, have been returned to all schools and workshops to support schools in analysing the data.Reid also announced that, after a five year break, the ministry will recommence the publishing of the grade 4 literacy and numeracy results. The 2016 results will be published in the May 3 edition of The Gleaner and will also be available online.

— Javene Skyers