Young learners falling behind on literacy rates, say First Nations educators – CBC

Nov 29, 2022

‘We want to make sure our students are tracking to be fully fluent readers by Grade 3’

Some First Nations educators in Atlantic Canada say reading ability among young learners in their schools has declined but due to inconsistent data tracking, it is unknown how the situation compares to provincial literacy rates.

Darren Googoo, director of education for Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton/Unama’ki, said his community has seen a decline in literacy rates for primary, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students.

Googoo, who has worked in education for almost 30 years, said students from primary to Grade 3 learn to read and after that, they read to learn.

“Early literacy forms the basis for later learning,” said Googoo.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/early-literacy-rates-first-nation-schools-1.6664429