IN 2006, there were reportedly 120,000 primary school students in the country who could not read and write.
INITIAL STAGE: Teachers encouraging the students to interact with one another during the first day of class.
And this year, the number is expected to quadruple.
To make matters worst, these slow learners are often not getting enough attention due mostly to over crowded classes.
Overtime, as the dire situation persists, they will not get any education despite their regular school attendance.
They frequently become a nuisance and cause disruption as they while away their time in class.
Prevalent not only in rural schools but those in town as well, the problem has to be addressed at its roots.
And this is usually done by teaching the students concerned at their own pace to help them catch up.
There is a school for “illiterate” students in Kuching called St Benildus’ Learning Centre, located at St Joseph’s School.
It is conducting remedial classes for St Joseph’s primary students and is the first to do so in the city.
Started last month, the first class at the centre has 12 students from primary 3, 4 and 5.
Three of the four teachers are retirees.
Explained Regina Lim, a teacher at the centre:
“We concentrate on oral skills, reading, math and spelling.
“It is not a tuition centre but a recreational one where children with learning difficulties can proceed at their own pace.”
The curriculum incorporates ‘fun’ activities such as playing games and music.
Although St Benildus is the first of its kind in the city, there is a total of four such centres, (including St Benildus), in the First Divsion, of which three − St LaSalle, St Benilde and St Miguel − are located in the rural areas.
Father Justin Mobilik, founder of the St Benildus’ Learning Centre, said the idea is to help slow learners from both rural and urban areas pass their UPSR.
Students in rural areas, more often than not, have no access to any other coaching besides that in the classroom.
Even if they do, their parents usually cannot afford it.
The Catholic Diocese here decided to conduct a special class for these students to help them with basic learning skills, and once their competency level increases, they can catch up with the rest of the class.
“It’s a long and tedious process but well worth every second of the hard work when the kids make progress in mastering the required skills,” Father Justin said.
It’s every child’s right to be educated whether they are slow or not, he added, pointing out that as many teachers already had so much work to do (with a syllabus to complete before the end of the year), they could not possibly give all the pupils their personal attention although this is crucial to the academic development of slow learners.
“At the centre, we try to overcome this problem by making sure the students have attained a certain degree of competency before we move them up a level.Once they have achieved the required competency, they will be able to catch up.”
According to Father Justin, competency depends on the individual’s development process.
“Some may take a little longer while others need less time but regardless, with proper attention, they all will graduate with the ability to read, write, subtract and add.”
There are six levels to ascertain a child’s competency.
The lowest − Level One − is where children are taught the alphabets and numerals.
Level Two is when they start learning and writing words while the Level Three exposes them to formation of simple sentences.
At Level Four, children are expected to string together longer sentences and also encouraged to speak in English and Bahasa Malaysia to improve their oral skills.
Level Five means the pupils have cleared all the earlier hurdles and are now ready to test their oral abilities by telling short stories.
By Level Six, they are ready to join their friends in class after showing the competency required by composing short stories.
While many think specialised teachers are needed to teach these students, Father Justine begs to differ.
“I believe housewives are the best candidates for the job because they are mothers and being so, already have the patience needed.”
According to him, patience far outweighs the rush to pick up skills, stressing what’s important is getting the point across.
The first learning centre in the First Division is St LaSalle set up in Singgai in 2008.
Another called St Benilde is in Stass while a third, St Miguel, is in Apar.
All three are in Bau District.
The latest one (St Benildus) is at St Joseph’s School in Kuching city.
These learning centres belong to the LaSallian Foundation, a non−governmental organisation.
No fees are charged but parents are required to ensure their children’s daily attendance otherwise the centres will stop the students’ participation.