120 teacher champions and mentors from 60 basic schools in the Savelugu Municipality, and Tolon, and Kumbungu Districts of the Northern Region, have been trained on using the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) assessment tool to implement daily one-hour reading strategies in their schools, aiming to improve learning outcomes, particularly in literacy for learners.
The ASER assessment tool will test and group learners based on their reading levels, and tailored supplementary support to learners will be facilitated during the one-hour reading program.
The tool will also be relied upon to periodically assess learners to ascertain their progress and remedial support.
The training was organized by Right To Play, an international NGO, in partnership with the Ghana Education Service, as part of its Partners in Play Project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and its agencies with funding from the LEGO Foundation.
Madam Veronica Ofosu, Education Specialist at Right To Play, emphasized the importance of building the capacity of teachers to support learners to improve their reading programs.
As part of the training, Right To Play donated some teaching and learning materials and some sports equipment to all the 60 beneficiary schools to support their preparation towards lesson planning and delivery in the classrooms. The items donated included 60 footballs, 60 sets of cones, over 500 flashcards, 1,000 manila cards, and 60 boxes of word cards.
Madam Ofosu explained, “We believe that when children are involved in the play, they are able to learn well and understand what they learn. That is why, aside from the training, Right To Play has donated these materials to the schools so that teachers can use them to support children's learning in the classrooms. We believe that children manipulate these materials to enhance learning.”
She added, “We know we have multiple means of delivering to learners, and so it is important we touch on all the senses of learners to support learning.” The outcome of the 2021 Standardized Test showed that there was a need to improve the literacy or reading of learners, and the reading program was designed to support schools in developing strategies to support learners improve their reading abilities.
The training had been impactful, and a teacher from Lungbung D/A Primary School in the Tolon District, Miss Rebecca Duodu, said it had enlightened her on how “to differentiate learners in a class according to their level of understanding, how they read, how they identify words, how they are able to read sentences; long paragraphs, short paragraphs.”
She added, “In a class, we need to give learners special attention; those who are able to pronounce words but cannot read sentences; we have learned how to handle them.”
