Pilot literacy scheme in Ireland ‘a success’
A pilot scheme to improve the literacy of young disadvantaged children in Ireland will be rolled out to other schools following its initial success.
Designed and researched by Dr Eithne Kennedy, of St Patrick's College in Dublin, the Write to Read initiative aims to directly interact with children and encourage more casual reading in a bid to get reading levels up, the Irish Times reports.
Teachers and community workers are also provided with further training to teach reading and writing skills to disadvantaged youths – a move that saw the skills of children at the trial school Our Lady Immaculate Junior National School drastically improve.
Children who were performing below the ten per cent level of literacy were reduced by 75 per cent over the trail period.
Dr Kennedy said: "I was kind of shocked by the literacy achievement of children from disadvantaged schools compared to those from a more privileged background so I took it on to see what could we do."
She added that gathering resources from schools, colleges and communities was a factor that brought success to the project and that this can be further achieved for other educational facilities.
A recent reading initiative was set up in Wales by the charity Save the Children which aims to encourage people for poorer backgrounds to spend time and money on their children's education.
