Dept counts on parents for numeracy skills

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Pretoria -The Western Cape Education Department will meet with parents to discuss ways in which they can help their children improve their numeracy skills.

MEC for Education, Donald Grant, said the department will kick off community roadshows next month.

Addressing provincial teachers at a two-day Literacy Best Practice Conference on Tuesday, Grant said ensuring that all learners are able to read, write and calculate at the appropriate level is a key priority for the department.

"Through the combined effort of learners, teachers and parents as well as support from the department, we are confident that we can continue to increase the levels of competency in literacy and numeracy in this province," Grant said.

Themed "Every Child Can Read", the conference aimed to share best practices in the classroom so as to promote reading among learners.

During the conference, teachers participated in various sessions on literacy development and skills.

The sessions included the improvement of reading techniques, programmes on visual literacy, intervention strategies and analysis of reading errors, active use of games and materials and solutions to address barriers to reading.

Demonstration lessons were also be presented using Grade R and 8 learners who are struggling to read.

The provincial 2009 Grade 6 literacy tests revealed that 48.6 percent of learners achieved 50 percent or more for literacy.