Ogramme launched at Enterprise Primary weeks
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Manickchand then added: “But I also want you to examine in your own homes and I’m not judging, because I know things could be very very hard sometimes. But is it true that you can’t afford food or is it really that your priorities need to be lined up a bit differently.” She then moved on saying that homes should realign their priorities, in ways such as having one less cell phone or using Wi-Fi over credit, or planting more in their backyard and “stop liming”.
A parent of Spanish-speaking children raised the issue of the language barrier to learning. She enquired if there were things in place to accommodate Spanish-speaking children writing the NGSA exam. And although she was met with some comments such as “go back”, Manickchand addressed her concerns and had a message for those people who thought the Spanish speakers should return to their countries.
She said “We have just paid CXC to translate the paper to Spanish.” And in response to the comments made she said, “All of us have family overseas, many of them illegally. Many of them with twenty dollars sown into their hem. Because they could not take money out of the country, because of the regimen at the time. When we sent them away, other countries were kind to them …so bear that in mind, when I heard the `go back’ and so on. Bear that in mind, kindness is invaluable. The same way we’re asking teachers to be kind to your children, I am certain we can extend the kindness to the people who need us.”
The Headmistress of Enterprise Primary Shivan Daw when asked by Stabroek News about the initiative said: “I am excited about it, I appreciate it so much because we have an issue and to be honest I didn’t know how to deal with it.” She continued to emphasize the teachers’ willingness to work amidst the challenges they faced saying, “My teachers are on board, they are anxious to get it done but it’s frustrating, we’re ready to work, we teachers work here, we work but then it’s like our hands are tied.”
Odama Siland, a senior teacher at the Primary School also shared her thoughts with Stabroek News on the programme. “Well for me and I want to believe for all the teachers we are very much grateful so we have accepted the programme with great enthusiasm knowing that the children most of them that we have at our school are experiencing great problems in terms of their reading.”
She also touched on some other issues the school faces saying, “Apart from the problem with reading we do encounter problems in terms of space because we have children coming from various communities.”
Siland hopes that with the primary tops they will have more space to house the students comfortably. She went on to say that while they have problems with space, heat and noise, “We are working … with the Minister of Education and the government at large to bring resolutions to all these little problems”. She said that she hopes the programme will ease some of the pressure off the teachers by working with children at their skill level and helping them progress at their own pace.
The issue of the Spanish-speaking students’ inability to fully understand their coursework is an ongoing one at the Enterprise Primary School. According to Siland there are approximately twenty Spanishspeaking children at the school and the language barrier has caused them to suffer significantly both socially and academically. She hopes that the government can put some systems into place to aid them in learning English and thinks that the decision to translate their CSEC into Spanish is a good step in that direction.
Odessa Moffatt, a parent of a child attending Enterprise Primary stated that, “The programme is very nice and I think it’s a very interesting one. And I think it will help a lot of children with reading because it’s true that a lot of children don’t know how to read. So I think it would help a great lot in the school.”
Among the other issues raised by one parent is the teaching of vocational subjects in schools. The minister went on to say that they are working to make vocational and technical subjects, not just a Plan B to those students who don’t excel at academics; but make it a first choice.``
Nadira Sookra, a mother of two children attending Enterprise Primary shared her thoughts saying, “From the moment I heard about the literacy programme I was actually happy, because I have my son in grade one and he doesn’t do that well in reading and I know it all has to do with literacy, phonics and the sounds of letters to get to there.”
She thought that while the teachers were trying their best their classrooms were overcrowded and they were lacking adequate resources. She also noted that it was extremely difficult to find after- school literacy programmes which is another reason she is grateful for the initiative and she hopes that the programme will help pupils have fun while learning.
Among the highlights of the presentation was the promise of two televisions by Manickchand. She assured the school and students that two televisions will be given to them and a request was also made for a projector.