MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
2011 Grade Four Literacy Test Results by School The Grade 4 Literacy Test is part of the National Assessment Programme (NAP) and was first administered in 1998. The assessment of literacy at Grade 4 is consistent with international practice of benchmarking literacy skills at that grade level. The Test consists of three sub-tests of skills (Word Recognition, Reading Comprehension and Writing). The overall performance of the child is expressed as one of the following levels: Mastery: The child has mastered the three skills and is considered literate. Almost Mastery: The child has mastered one or two of the three skills and is considered close to being literate. Non Mastery: The child has not mastered any of the three skills and is considered non literate. The Grade 4 Literacy Test was administered nationally for the first time in 2009, and the results were published. All children at the Grade 4 level are required to sit the test, as since 2009 no child has been allowed to sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) without being certified as achieving mastery on the Grade 4 Literacy Test. The Competence Based Transition Policy which provides a child with four opportunities to sit the tests , was also initiated in 2009. As a result, in June 2011, a total of 56,126 students sat the Test from public, private and special schools. Of this number, 46,474 sat the Test for the first time (41,672 from public schools, 4,739 from private schools and 63 from special schools). 71.4 percent of the 46,411students from public and private schools achieved mastery; 19.5 percent achieved almost mastery and 8.9 percent was non-mastery. Of the 33,148 students who achieved mastery, 56 percent were females and 44 percent were males. Forty-six percent of the 63 students from special schools achieved mastery, 45 percent of which were females. Of the 792 public schools, 790 entered 41,672 students to sit the test with approximately 69 percent attaining mastery; 21 percent attaining almost mastery and 10 percent non-mastery. The percentage of the students that achieved mastery increased by four percentage points over the previous year’s performance. Of the 28,763 students who achieved mastery, 57 percent were females and 43 percent were males. Some 26 percent (209 schools) performed in the highest quintile or 5th tier and one percent (6 schools) had mastery levels in the lowest quintile or 1st tier. The 236 private schools with a population of 4,739 students had 93 percent mastery, six percent almost mastery and one percent non-mastery. The percentage of the students achieving mastery increased by five percentage points over the previous year. Just over a half (51 percent) of the 4,385 students who achieved mastery were females. Performance of Schools in 20% Tiers % of Student # of Tier Mastery Schools 1st 0% less than 20% 6 2nd 20% less than 40% 61 3rd 40% less than 60% 191 4th 60% less than 80% 323 5th 80% up to 100% 209
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION November, 2011
Let us not forget that achieving universal literacy by 2015 will need the collaborative effort of all stakeholders including parents, schools and communities.