US 'Room to Read' promotes gender equality in School Education sector
'Room to Read' (RTR) a US-based Not-for-Profit Organisation is promoting gender equality in the Education sector by piloting a Reading and Writing instruction programme in 419 schools, to increase Lankan children's Literacy rate. A special aim is to promote Reading and Writing skills among girl school leavers to deal with life's challenges.
An RTR survey found that, although Sri Lanka boasts of 92% literacy, children in many of the districts lack reading and writing skills. A survey in Vavuniya found that, children's Tamil Literacy skills needed improvement.
It introduced a school-based intervention programme to strengthen Teaching and Learning skills of both teachers and students, with coaching in Reading and Writing in the early Primary Grades. This included detailed lesson plans, classroom materials and comprehensive professional development of teachers in the Grade 1 Tamil programme.
The programme was launched in 40 schools in the Vavuniya District in 2014, and extended to Grade 2 in the same schools in 2015. A follow-up survey after two academic years reveals the programme is having a positive impact on the development of children’s reading skills which had improved considerably. The evaluation results showed that children on the Tamil Literacy Programme performed significantly better than their peers in comparative schools
The research conducted included evaluating20 schools that had the Tamil Literacy Program in Grade 2 class syllabus and 20 comparable schools from the same district not having the program in the parallel classes.
By the end of Grade 2, pupils from project schools could, on average, read 38 words per minute. By con- trast, pupils from comparative schools could, on average, read only 33 words per minute. On the reading comprehension task, project school pupils could correctly answer 2.6 questions, while comparative school pupils could correctly answer only 2.1 questions. The differences between project and comparative school pupils on the letter naming, passage reading fluency, and reading comprehension tasks were significant. The impact of the program was similar for boys and girls.
In addition, RTR has established school libraries, provided buildings for schools, published local-language children’s books, trained teachers in literacy education and supported girls to complete secondary school with the life skills necessary to succeed in school and beyond.
RTR expanded into Sri Lanka following the tsunami, rebuilding schools in tsunami-affected areas. It started the Girls’ Education Programme to bridge the gender gap in various districts. RTR has ongoing programmes in Anuradhapura, Moneragala, Badulla, Vavuniya, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Colombo, Mannar, Puttalam and Trincomalee districts.
Last week, RTR, under the hospice of Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, hosted ‘Global trends in Literacy Instruction’ at the Taj Samudra, to make policymakers understand the current scientific approaches on teaching Literacy in early grades in Sri Lanka and worldwide.
It has so far established 222 active library schools in Sri Lanka.
This is the first time we've had a conference for government officers and academia, because we wish to share our expertise and support the government in any way we can to educate our children.