The Ministry of Education Human Resource Development’s Literacy Programme Management Unit (LPMU) is working towards establishing a model for literacy learning for primary schools in the country.
The model will seek to address the declining literacy results in schools over the recent past, and to re-focus how teachers teach literacy in a multilingual context.
With the aim in mind the Literacy Programme Management Unit has initiated a nationwide programme, in collaboration with education – Provincial and Private to train teachers, review teaching resources and support better language instruction.
The Unit has developed this model through analysis of results to identify areas of weakness in language knowledge and use.
They also analysing the materials and resources available to teachers and students in the Solomon Islands classrooms as to their ability to support language and English acquisition.
Not only that but also observing how teachers work with language and other subjects in the class room to understand what practices are supportive and which are detrimental.
Moreover, consulting current research into language and learning particularly in learning English in multilingual setting including the research conducted in Solomon Islands classrooms by Auckland University in conjunction with USP-IOE.
This is the manner in which MEHRD intend to continue to support teachers and students where it seeks education authorities’ cooperation in ensuring that any work they undertake in schools uses this model in order to give teachers a consistent message about language and literacy.
As a way forward to achieve the goal of establishing the new model, MEHRD is currently conducting a three days Literacy Leaders Forum agenda for education authorities throughout the country at CYP since Monday, the programme will end this afternoon.
By Biriau Wilson Saeni
