The quality of education will be aptly addressed during a week-long Early Reading Grade Assessment (EGRA) workshop for education professionals, which commenced yesterday at the National Centre for Educational Research Development (NCERD).The workshop, which is being facilitated by Washington-based literacy consultants Doctors Jennifer Spraat and Sandra Hollingsworth, will focus on EGRA, which is regarded as an internationally viable diagnostic instrument designed to quickly assess the foundation skills for literacy acquisition of pupils in Grades One through Three.At the opening of the forum, Dr Spraat observed that, over the decades, funding patterns for education assistance has been centred on problems of access and quantity of schooling,Wholesale Jerseys, rather than the quality aspect.As such, she commended the efforts of the local education sector for embracing the need for quality education, which she notes can provide pupils with a fundamental combination of skills for learning both in and out of school.Guyana’s involvement with the EGRA instrument, Dr Spraat said, will see it joining a small group of countries that have already begun to take steps to tackle the issues of scientific assessment of reading in the early primary years.She added that in addition to producing information that will assist in improving instructional practices in terms of early reading, the local sector will be participating and will be contributing to the body of knowledge internationally.The EGRA instrument, she said, is fairly easy to administer and will see teachers working for about 15 minutes with a given child.? At the end of that period, teachers will have a realistic sense of whether that child knows his or her letters, whether he/she can read simple paragraphs, whether he/she has trouble decoding individual words, or has the capacity to do basic writing.Dr Spraat disclosed, though, that the same instrument can also be used at different primary levels as an assessment tool.According to her,Cheap World Cup Jerseys 2018, it is based on state-of-the-art reading research that draws on United States and European international literature.During the course of the workshop, which will be open to full participation, Dr Spraat said, efforts will be made to examine the proposed instrument, as well as to modify it with a view to making it suitable for Guyana. In this regard, she said, the instrument will have to be tested in some schools to determine its viability.The need for the implementation of the assessment instrument was emphasised by Minister Baksh, who stressed the need to have some means of measurement to verify how much pupils have learnt.According to him, too many children are still being left behind, since they pass through school without even learning anything, a development which he regarded as a national concern.For this reason, the minister said,NFL Jerseys Cheap, the Government has decided to intervene through the fast track initiative, which he hopes to sustain for another five years.However, he noted that while the sector has been able to effectively address the problem of access and enrolment,ArDarius Stewart Jersey, the important area of quality has been neglected.? This, he noted,cheap jerseys, will be dealt with through the EGRA venture,Claudio Bravo Jersey, which he believes will positively impact the delivery of education.This notion was echoed by Assistant Chief Education Officer Ms Bonita Hunter, who noted that literacy is an important aspect that must be dealt with in Guyana.She divulged that there are some children, 15 years and even older, who do not have the ability to read, write, or do simple arithmetic, which, according to UNESCO, defines an illiterate person.But in order to take away the scourge of illiteracy, Ms Hunter related, intervention must be made at the primary level. This will in effect create incremental improvements in the literacy standard, and these will be detected with the measurement tool.And according to Director of NCERD, Mr Mohandat Goolsarran, the EGRA tool will complement instruments that are already being utilised by the sector. With the anticipated efforts to modify the EGRA tool, he noted, it is expected that the sector willbe in possession of a tool that will be suitable for the local social context, yet be on par with that of international standards.