An enrichment room, equipped with audio-visual technology to enhance the reading and mathematics skills of students, was opened on Wednesday, January 20 at the Moneague Primary and Junior High School in St Ann.

The facility, which is sponsored by Digicel Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, boasts computers with literacy and numeracy software such as Hooked on Phonics and Early Success, Math Manipulative Audio Visual Headsets; television and DVD players, among other equipment.

expressing gratitude

Acting principal of the school, Marcia Hinds, in expressing gratitude, said that the enrichment room will be especially beneficial to students with learning difficulties who are performing below grade level.

These students, she explained, will be pulled from their regular classrooms for an hour each day, and placed in the facility, where they will benefit from one-on-one instruction.

She thanked Digicel Foundation and the Ministry of Education for collaborating on the initiative, and called on other corporate sponsors to get on board.

Meanwhile, education officer for Region III, Dawn Singh-Gilmore, said that the ministry was happy to provide primary schools across the island with enrichment rooms.

"We believe that our children must be properly equipped with the best opportunities and the best-quality education that will enable them to develop to their full potential and enable them to function effectively in the global market place," she stated.

She said that the ministry was aggressively pursuing the advancement of literacy for all, and has embarked on several initiatives, some of which are being done in collaboration with international agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Singh-Gilmore urged the school community to take care of the enrichment room and use it to improve literacy levels.

Noting that the school has recorded 71 per cent mastery at grade four, she said: "this is not near where they intend to be. Having got this state-of-the-art enrichment room, they will soon be a force to reckon with."