Schools get dyslexia training

The man who has held the country’s first training in reading difficulties this last week, Dr. Paul Henriques, was himself dyslexic.

“As a child with dyslexia I was very lucky,” Dr. Henriques told participants at the end of two weeks training in teaching techniques and special software for dyslexic children.

“The principal of my primary school took a special interest in my disability and ensured I had the correct care and attention by each teacher so that I could grow and thrive in my learning. “Yes, principals really do make a difference,” he said.

On Friday, eighteen teachers were presented with certificates at the Ministry of Education at Malifa after two weeks training of Dyslexia Training Literacy. Dyslexia means a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but does not indicate intelligence.

Chief Executive Officer Matafeo Falana’ipupu Aiafi stated that Samoa is also the first country in the Pacific to receive training from Dyslexia Aid New Zealand. “The Ministry is always indebted to Dr Paul Henriques for deciding to bring this kind of training to Samoa.”

For someone with dyslexia, research overseas shows that words on a page can seem like meaningless shapes, a problem identified as far back as 1881. Some researchers referred to it as “word blindness.”

Here in Samoa, the problem has not been previously seen since before the training was held. But if children here suffer the same rates of reading difficulty as other countries, then as many as one in five may face problems of dyslexia. In a country with around 60,000 school students that could represent as many as 12,000 with dyslexia problems.

Other estimates are lower, at between 5 to 10 per cent, and as low as 1 to 2% - but even the lowest estimate means hundreds of children facing difficulty.

Matafeo welcomed the training that shows teachers how to bridge the gap with dyslexic children.

“I am aware that Samoa is also the first country in the Pacific to receive training from Dyslexia Aid New Zealand, and we are very privileged to receive this assistance.

“I think it is also perfect timing for Samoa when we are looking at other possible reasons why some children are still not able to read or write.

“We hope to see these dyslexic children overcome their reading problems.” Friday saw the end of a series of training sessions that began on Tuesday the 18th of February.

“Three separate groups went through three days of training, not only on the use of this great literacy software, using laptops and computers, but also on understanding more about dyslexia and how to help develop literacy in a more effective way.

“We must always remember that this type of training is also to up skill and support our own teachers on other areas and strategies that will contribute to the improvement of literacy in Samoa.

Principals of the four pilot schools - Vaimauga College, Faleata College, Vaiusu Primary School and Fagali’i Primary School – took part.

“We hope that your teachers have relayed to you, the beauty of this software programme and its relevance to the very root of our profession,” said Matafeo. “Our children of the future deserve to receive the best possible strategy in overcoming literacy problems that we still experience in our schools,” he said.

“We hope to see success in this trial for the other schools to also benefit from this literacy software.”

Computers given to the schools will be used solely for the purpose of using stepsliteracy software.

“They are for the certificated teachers and students with dyslexia to use.

We want to see the longest lifetime use of these computers.” Security was important in caring for the computers, he said.

“Avoid and prevent any virus by not using these computers for any other purpose but dyslexia literacy only.

The 18 certificated teachers and curriculum officers are the first group in Samoa to be given this opportunity to use the steps software for literacy teaching.

“Use the knowledge and experience from this training with the aim of achieving our educational goal - eradicating illiteracy in Samoa. May I also use this opportunity to thank Dr Paul Henriques for making time to come to Samoa for two weeks to run this programme.

“Not only did you offer yourself, but you also went as far as procuring 10 computers from the church community in Auckland to make sure they arrive in Samoa on-time before the training started.

At the opening ceremony, we did not see the computers but now, we can all witness the computers that were being used during the training. I have been informed that the computers are well-equipped with the necessary software and programmed too,” said Matafeo.

Dr Henriques stated that it has been a successful nine days of trainings.

“It is of course only the beginning of the pilot program and we still have much to do. “I want to come up to Apia again in a month or two and visit the schools to see how they are getting on.

“We want to introduce a running record for English reading fluency and comprehension so we can accurately track students’ progress.

“I will try to raise more funds so that each of the four pilot schools has four dedicated computers and most importantly and most excitingly I want to work with the literacy unit here to develop a Samoan version of both the steps software and the worksheets.

Their vision is to prove the concept of the step 3 programme at the 4 pilot schools so that the ministry can apply for “significant” funding from a major donor agency such as NZAid or UNESCO, he said, then it can be expanded naturally. “We are hoping the principals in the four pilot schools, the four teachers tutoring the children and the Ministry staff supporting the schools will turn this vision into reality.”

Dr. Henriques was confident the pilot schools would do well.

“The trainees here today will all certainly help make that happen, and yes there will be challenges but they will be overcome.”

At the end of the program ten computers were presented to the four pilot schools to help dyslexic children on their learnings of literacy, three computers for Vaiusu Primary School, three for Fagali’i Primary School, two for Faleata College and the other two for Vaimauga College.

The cost of these ten computers was more than NZ$3,000, over $6,000 tala, plus shipping.

The Yale Centre for Dyslexia & Creativity estimates that “Dyslexia is the most common reading disability with approximately 1 out of every 5 people struggling with dyslexia. More than 20% of the population is dyslexic, yet many remain undiagnosed, untreated and struggling with the impact of their dyslexia.”

Dyslexia is not a disease but thought to come from a combination of genetic, nutritional and environmental issues.