Literacy

Working in partnership with the Akwa Ibom State Government and the University of Uyo’s Institute of Education, the lead training provider for education in Akwa Ibom State, Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN) aims to train, resource and inspire 3400 teachers from 1146 government primary schools to teach the fun and successful method of synthetic phonics over the next two years. Each school will receive training, resources and ongoing support to ensure that every pupil has the skills that they need to read and write with confidence.

This method has been proven to dramatically improve literacy levels, especially amongst children for whom English is a second language. In fact, our pilot study into the effectiveness of synthetic phonics in five Nigerian state schools showed that children taught using this method had reading ages that were up to 2 years and 5 months higher than pupils taught using conventional methods. To view the full findings of this study, click here.

In the UK, the national curriculum has been revised so children are taught to read primarily using the synthetic phonics method. Schools from India to Ireland are increasingly following suit. The synthetic phonic method involves the rapid teaching of 42 letter-sounds in isolation whilst simultaneously teaching children how to blend these sounds together to read a word. The method is both fast-paced and extremely interactive, which makes it ideal for young learners.

Its effective use by teachers in Akwa Ibom State will help to create a society where human rights are valued, government is held to account, women’s voices are heard and the poverty cycle is broken. SSN also believes that raising literacy levels is one of the most effective long-term strategies to fight the widely held belief in child 'witches', a belief which leads to the widespread abuse of child rights in this region.

As well as training qualified teachers, the project seeks to train undergraduate teachers so that synthetic phonics becomes embedded into every primary school for many years to come. It is hoped that by 2012 Akwa Ibom State Primary Schools will have the best readers and writers in Nigeria and that Akwa Ibom State will be seen as a model for other States in the Niger Delta to learn from.

Click here to watch SSN's presentation on 'Training and Inspiring Teachers in the Niger Delta: A Model for Embedding Synthetic Phonics in Government Primary Schools' at the 2011 Reading Reform Conference.