Specialist teachers for 35 primary schools September

The Ministry of Education is to embark on a pilot project this September introducing specialist mathematics and language arts teachers at the primary level.

Education Minister Ruel Reid said 35 schools will participate in the pilot.

Reid told reporters that the ministry has taken note of the decline in the national averages by six percentages points for literacy and four percentage points for numeracy.

The education minister said the project is part of a wider response by the education ministry to improve the mathematics and language arts skills of students.

Yesterday’s announcement coincides with the impending release of the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Test.

The results are to be made public tomorrow.

In March, Reid reported that approximately 60 per cent of the over 37,000 students from public and private schools achieved mastery in last year's literacy test.