IMPACT OF THE PAKISTAN READING PROJECT (PRP) ON PROMOTING READING SKILLS OF STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

Abstract

The study is observational in nature and it aims to observe the impact of Pakistan Reading Project launched in collaboration with department of Elementary and Secondary Education Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and district educational setup for developing reading skills of students in public sector schools at elementary level of southern districts of KP. Three districts Kohat, Karak and D.I.Khan were selected from all the five districts by using simple random sampling technique. All the teachers who were engaged in Urdu language teaching in these 3 districts comprised the population of the study. A sample of 24 teachers (12 male & 12 female) (8 from each district, 4 male & 4 female) were selected through convenient sampling for observing the role of PRP in their teaching learning activities. The observational checklist carrying 15 items related to reading skills including (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension) was developed and then it was made valid and reliable before its administration. The data collected through observation checklist was processed for analysis through simple calculating mean. The study concludes that the project contributed a lot in improving the reading skills of grade 1 & 2 related with reading skills of Urdu language. The study suggests that such activities for improvement of the reading skills of English and Pushto need to be initiated in all the districts of KP. The teachers engaged in language learning may be provided professional training in regard to reading skills of 21st century.