Learning to Read- Giving children a second chance in upper primary

• In Event: Sustainable quality education: mother tongue and "official" languages

Proposal

An Overview
In Kenya, the impact of free primary education resulted in massive improvements in access to formal education but marked declines in quality. This resulted in many children reaching upper primary unable to read even a word. Highest levels of illiteracy were found among children in schools in marginalised, arid areas (Uwezo 2016). This made progress towards quality components of SDG 4 even harder to achieve. This paper describes a model being trialled in schools in such marginalised arid areas that gives children in upper primary classes, who have only used English as their first language of literacy, a second chance to learn to read using alternative approaches that combine the initial use of their first language and the Teaching at the Right level (TaRL) approach to initial literacy. The model is low cost, with limited inputs and thus it is sustainable even in marginalised areas. It has the potential to roll out in similar contexts. The paper will show evidence of its effectiveness in raising initial literacy levels dramatically and in energising schools to tackle the problem of low performance in upper classes.

Background to the model
Laikipia North is a semi-arid marginalised area with low enrolment and retention rates, and high illiteracy rates. Culturally, it is predominantly Maasai, with a range of problems arising from poverty including traditionally low priorities for education. According to the UWEZO survey of 2016, 25% of the children in upper primary age could not do class 2 work and had not acquired fundamental skills in their primary school years. This is against a backdrop in which the lower grades had recently been introduced to initial literacy in their first language, something not experienced by children in upper grades. Basic reading and numeracy skills are essential for children moving through the school system or indeed through life but if these are not acquired in early years of education it is seldom fully acquired in upper classes. Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration directly addressed issues of education in relation to sustainable development in four main areas: improve basic education, reorient existing education to address sustainable development, develop public understanding, awareness and training (McKeown et. al, 2002). Thus, if children cannot read after five years at school, then all four areas are sabotaged.

The model
This paper looks at Education for Sustainability that leaves no child behind implemented through a second chance model. The model is based on two premises. Firstly if children are taught initial literacy in a familiar language then they acquire reading skills faster than if taught in an unfamiliar language. In particular, they will achieve automaticity in decoding more quickly and sustainably. This skills they can then transfer to English.

The second assumption is that if children are taught in smaller groups of similar ability using more activity based learning, they are likely to move from non-readers to readers in less than 18 weeks. These ‘Catch-up’ classes used the Pratham, TARL approach but with variations. It involved assessing children’s reading levels using a simple assessment tool- ASER and then grouping them according to level rather than age or grade. This assessment showed that approximately 30% of the grade 4 to 7 children across all targeted schools were unable to read at grade 3 level and in some upper primary classes it was almost 100%.

The catch-up lessons took place after school, two or three times a week, for the whole school term with the emphasis on developing decoding skills. A curriculum was developed and three teachers in each school were trained. Where possible, the familiar language was used in level 1 and English in level 2 and 3. In a few schools no teachers were able to use the familiar language so these classes were taught in English at all levels providing a useful, but unintended comparison.

The program commenced in May 2017 with 1039 learners from Grade 4-7 placed in one of the three levels with an assessment every 2 weeks that allowed transition to the next level if appropriate. After three months, the results showed that over 80% of those enrolled had improved to a level where they could start reading in English at least at Grade 4 level. After level 3 a book club was started to support continued reading.

A key component of the model throughout was the school community engagement. The program was only introduced when requested by the school and when supported by the community as integral to their school improvement plans. Therefore, teachers committed to teaching as part of their duties and received no additional financial benefits- thus ensuring sustainability. Initially only 9 schools adopted the program. However, within six months a further 18 had taken up the program and thus it became an accepted part of teaching in Laikipia wherever reading standards were low, a key to its sustainability.

Evidence of success to be presented in April
A base line was conducted in May 2017 assessing all the upper primary learners using a written test. Results indicated that approximately 28% of learners in Grade 4-7 could not read at Grade 3 level. A follow up impact study in October 2018 will measure improvements in these learning outcomes and results will be presented in this paper. In addition, comparisons will be drawn between those who used the first language at level 1 and those who had to use English at all three levels to see if there are advantages to taking remedial learners back into a familiar language for initial reading rather than continuing in English. Thus, the paper when presented will include hard evidence of the achievements in raising reading levels and communities’ and teachers’ response to the model. Based on these results, recommendations can be made on stakeholder engagement, language use across levels, curriculum issues, training and other essential elements in assessing potential scale up to similar arid areas or at a national level.

Authors

• Nganga Kibandi, Africa Educational Trust

• Lucy Maina, ZiziAfrique Foundation