THE Ministry of Education is expecting at least 80 per cent of the 1,341 students enrolled in its special summer numeracy and literacy programme, for those who did not attain mastery scores in their Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations, to meet that benchmark before they enter high school in September.

After PEP results were released in June, the education ministry reported that of the 31,677 students who sat the exam, 75 per cent achieved mastery in numeracy assessments, while 79 per cent demonstrated mastery in literacy.

At the time, portfolio minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon indicated that those students who performed at near mastery and non-mastery levels would be sought out by the ministry to ensure that no child is left behind.

On Tuesday, permanent secretary in the ministry Dr Kasan Troupe told the Jamaica Observer that those students are now being engaged in an intense three-week, Government-funded, summer programme that runs until the end of July and which will target their weak areas and reassess their level of competence upon its completion.

“Right now, as indicated by our minister, the plan is for us to have a majority of our students, if not all, go to high school literate. As you know, we have been working on that as an education system,” said Troupe at the handover ceremony of CIBC Caribbean prepaid cards to nine principals affected by last October’s Hurricane Melissa, at the bank’s corporate office in New Kingston.

“We saw a 10 per cent improvement in the level of mastery for literacy this year. The same students who we assessed this year, when they got their mastery scores in grade four it was 69 per cent, and this year it is 79 per cent, and we identified some students who are on the cusp. If it was a little bit more we would have got them there. So, the thrust now is to run them through an intensive literacy and numeracy initiative,” said Troupe.

The permanent secretary explained that the first week of the programme was used to conduct assessments that identified where students were on their journey of becoming numerate and literate. She noted that the information garnered from those tests was then used to form their learning plan for the next two weeks.

While acknowledging that attempting to achieve mastery in three weeks would be a challenge, she argued that the ministry is well equipped to provide students with the material needed to help them along the way.

“Some persons would say what we didn’t do in six years we’re going to try to do in a summer. That’s not absolutely true; it is like an intensive programme. And we are deploying literacy software and licenses that we have procured, [so] we are using that as well, and we have our Jamaica Learning Passport that is built around literacy and numeracy support, so we are pulling in the ICT [information and communications technology], we are pulling in the readers, and we have equipped the regions,” she said.

Troupe told the Observer that students are being thoroughly monitored throughout the programme, and those who are still unable to secure mastery will undergo a Government-funded psychoeducational assessment which will then help to shape their curriculum at the high schools they attend in September.

“We are now working with those receiving schools to ensure that the learning programmes are developed in response to the gaps identified in those learners. We are restructuring some of those learning programmes in some of those high schools to limit the number of subjects the students are exposed to; to increase the amount of time that they will need in literacy, numeracy, language arts, mathematics, ICT, physical education, and I think social studies and personal development,” she said, explaining that students will matriculate to other subject areas once they improve.

She added that students were grouped in selected nearby schools or other institutions closest to them so that they have ease in accessing the summer programme. Troupe added that the initiative was designed to minimise spending for parents.

“We have also looked at providing nutritional support through Nutrition Products Limited for the students, we provided the teachers or the tutors — and that is something that the Government is fully funding — so the parents are not contributing to summer school in any way — we are paying. It’s fully funded by the Government. We have our principals who are coordinating, we have our literacy coaches and specialists who have been deployed into the field,” she said.

Troupe also called on parents to make the extra effort to send their children to summer school, charging that persistent commitment to their child’s improvement is what will eventually make the difference.

“We are asking our parents to make the sacrifice. And if they can’t afford whatever it is, let us know because we will make the sacrifice and put the resources in place — because the end game is for all of our students to be literate before they go to high school,” declared Troupe.