Students find new confidence in literacy program
This article is republished from The Coonamble Times with their permission.
Literacy For Life opened the classroom to a third intake under its ‘Yes, I Can!’ campaign, squared at boosting literacy for adults.
Around 20 people including staff and new and returning participants were in the Literacy For Life building on Monday 29 July to officially launch the third round of studies, which began last week.
The program began in February-March 2023, with at least 17 people expected to start this round before the cutoff date in four weeks time.
64-year-old Coonamble-born Phemise ‘BJ’ Jones joined the program for the first time last week.
He was nervous at first, but already wishes he began sooner.
“I was scared to speak up in front of the class,” BJ said.
“Now I feel a lot more confident getting up and writing things.”
“It’s a great thing, what they are doing here.
“You can do it. You just need a bit of help.
“This is one of the first steps to get a job.”
The Indigenous-led course builds learners from a beginner level, starting with vowels and working their way through to writing sentences and paragraphs.
Participants in this intake range from 15 to 74 and finish the 20-week course in December, although Campaign Project Manager Gail Turnbull said it could be extended for future intakes.
Gail said students come out more confident at end of the course.
She took the example of a shy high school-aged student who has come into the intake. “By the end of it she’ll be speaking and saying ‘hello, how you going.’
“It lifts their self-esteem and confidence to know that they’ve done something such as learning to read and write.”
“Some of the students come in and they can barely say hello because their self-esteem is so low.
“We just really want them to blend in to the community and not feel like they’re not able to speak for themselves.”
Source: The Coonamble Times Published on 4 Aug 2024
The Coonamble Campaign is supported by the NSW Government and the Australian Government.