Education Minister Randy Horton yesterday unveiled a scheme to improve literacy in public schools - and his timing could not have been better.

Mr. Horton made his announcement hours after the Department of Statistics released survey results which showed that almost two-thirds of young men and more than half of young women on the Island have less-than-adequate literacy levels.

"Reading and writing skills are fundamental to future success in school and in the workplace," Mr. Horton said. "Our efforts are geared toward expending more resources in meeting the challenge of improving literacy skills throughout the public education system."

The new programme is called the Literacy Collaborative and will be introduced in every primary and middle school over the next school year.

Key elements will include new materials; a school leadership team; a school-based literacy co-ordinator in each school; initial and on-going professional development for teachers and literacy co-ordinators; in-class coaching for teachers; research-based classroom instructional practices; classroom assessment; a home/school partnership programme; and research on results.

Mr. Horton said: "Literacy Collaborative will focus attention on improving literacy skills with such features as literacy experts in each school, early intervention for children who are lagging behind and educating parents on how to help their children.

"We are also making a commitment to sustained investment in focused teacher development based on student achievement."

He said teams had already been trained in each of the Island's 18 primary schools and one special school. Middle school teams will be trained during the next school year.

Freddie Evans, president of the Association of School Principals - which last week filed a grievance against two Ministry of Education officials over their alleged refusal to discuss education reform - said the union supported the scheme.

He said it offered the "opportunity for the public system to have a unified model throughout allowing us to focus our efforts in improving literacy".

He added: "The collaborative also provides educators with an opportunity to build capacity in schools, since teachers trained in the model will be working with and training their peers. We consider that the Literacy Collaborative is one of the most exciting developments that has happened in our system for a long time."

Mr. Horton announced a comprehensive, independent review of the public school system last month after it was revealed that just 48 percent of students graduated last summer.