Adamawa government appealed to parents on Tuesday to allow children to benefit from the new method of teaching introduced by UNICEF known as Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL).
Dr Salihi Ateequ, Chairman, Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board made the appeal in Yola when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
In TaRL, teachers and pupils sit on mats and the style gave rise to the misconception in many that it had to do with religious practice.
Ateequ said the teaching method had nothing to do with religion and that it took only two hours daily when pupils are taught numeracy and literacy.
He said TaRL, implemented by the state government was not new and was being practiced globally with positive results.
“Teaching on mats is for convenience; some of the exercises must be done while seated for better comprehension.
“Calculation in numeracy and literacy can be done only when seated so that the children can see displays.
“And in the areas where this programme is going on successfully the children can read and write in English and Hausa languages,’’ he affirmed.
Ateequ said he had personally attended some of the TaRL sessions and he sat on mats with the children and realised that they were improving in numeracy and in literacy.
He said by the time the children progressed from Primary Four to Five and Six, they had better grasp of numeracy and literacy.
“They can read smoothly and when a child can read and write, he can answer questions diligently and correctly,’’ he told NAN.
The chairman solicited the support and cooperation of religious and traditional leaders to get involved so as to surmount the misconception of religion bias about TaRL to get the children better educated.
“I believe that when they speak to their people they will understand and get the benefit of this opportunity.
“It is something for a period, if people miss it now they’d miss it forever,’’ Ateequ said. (NAN)
