Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate

effectively and make sense of the world (Lee Cheu Jey, 2011). Faleti (2017) stated that literacy
encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to access, understand, analyse and
evaluate information, make meaning, express thoughts and emotions, present ideas and
opinions, interact with others and participate in activities at school and in their lives beyond
school. In simpler terms, literacy is important because it is a stepping-stone to learning. Be it as
a student or an adult, literacy will help one to gain and make use of knowledge. For example, a
7-year-old boy can learn about the lifecycle of a butterfly if he can read a book about it. He can
then display his understanding of the topic by writing or talking about it. Being literate enabled
the boy not only to learn something new but to apply it as well. This clearly shows how
significant literacy is in one’s life in the long run.

According to Elkin (2010), the literacy issue faced by pupils at home is poverty. She
further adds that poverty can hinder a child's physical and mental health and his ability and
motivation to learn. Neuroscientists have studied the brains of children from different income
levels, controlling for variables, and have identified significant differences in the brain maturation
of children in poverty (Parrett & Budge, 2016) and one of the findings has shown differences in
working memory. This gives an impact to the ability to listen and think about what someone is
saying, read a book and remember parts of what has been read, and organise thoughts to
formulate written language. In light to this matter, the Nilam programme would be of great help
towards these pupils. By using the mentor-mentee system as the mechanism in the Nilam
programme, the teacher needs to pay extra attention in guiding these pupils to inculcate the
reading habit among them. Working with poverty-stricken children requires teachers to be
involved in every aspect of their lives, both academic and personal. The challenge teachers face
to help these children is due to their lack of experience with poverty. Jensen (2013) states that
teachers often fail to acknowledge the influence that poverty can have on academic
achievement. Pupils who are living in poverty are not always given the foundation they need to
succeed in school, they often have ineffective study habits and a low level of self-discipline.
Therefore, monitoring is crucial towards mentees who have reading disabilities. However, due to
teachers’ lack of understandings, pupils are brought to the library and forced to read and write a
book report after that (Ng, 2006). There are pupils who merely copied the synopsis from books
as their reports or recycled their book reports in a new Nilam Record Book. The inability of
parents who experience poverty to provide for their children have moved the burden of
educating them to their teachers. On the other hand, teachers who lack in experience towards
this situation will leave these children to be unattended according to their needs.
 The literacy issue teachers encounter in school is the lack of time for additional reading.
A study by Loewus (2017) shows that teachers believe that pupils should have time during the
school day to read a book of their choice independently but teachers are unable to make time
for such reading every day due to time constrains caused by the compacted syllabus needed to
be covered in class. Hence, teachers are encouraged to set up a mini library in their classrooms
to allow pupils to read during their free time. Nonetheless, teachers are challenged to make this
mini library a conducive one. Many teachers update their classroom libraries infrequently. The
study states that about a quarter do it every couple of years and 13 percent never do it.
Furthermore, about 1 in 10 teachers have no books in their classroom or personal libraries for
pupils to read while a third of teachers have fewer than 50 books. The school and teachers
should work together in efforts to curb the literacy issue faced in the school.

In order to bridge the gap between these issues, the Schooling Assistance Programme
can be of help. The Schooling Assistance Programme would provide RM100 to each student
from families earning up to RM3000 (“Budget 2017”, 2016). With this, all parents including those
of poverty are able to buy books for their children in attempt to motivate pupils to do
independent reading at home at their comfort. Consequently, teachers should provide a list of
books recommended to be bought to ensure the selection of reading materials is suitable for the
pupils. This effort can limit the problems faced in literacy both at home and in the classroom.

To conclude, it is important that pupils have higher literacy levels to be equally

competent in the society and to face the world awaiting for them. Effective literacy skills open
the doors to more educational and employment opportunities so that people are able to pull
themselves out of poverty and chronic underemployment. In our increasingly complex and
rapidly changing technological world, it is essential that individuals continuously expand their
knowledge and learn new skills in order to keep up with the pace of change and all of this has to
be impacted to our children while they are still young.
References

“Budget 2017: Parents of school-going children to benefit” (Oct 21, 2016). The Star Online.
Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/10/21/budget-2017-
parents-of-schoolgoing-children-to-benefit/#KP8D6BpJpTdUiS3f.99

Elkin, S. (2010). Unlocking the reader in every child. Watlington: Ransom Publishing.

Jensen, E. (2013). How poverty affects classroom engagement. Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-
Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx

Loewus, L. (2017). Study: Teachers value independent reading but lack class time for it.
Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2017/04/study_teachers_
value_independent_reading_but_lack_time.html

Ng, J. H. (2005) Inculcating the reading habit through the Nilam programme in schools.
Retrieved from http://www.ipbl.edu.my/portal/penyelidikan/seminarpapers/2005/
ngSTARpaper.pdf

Parrett, W. & Budge, K. (2016). How does poverty influence learning? . Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-does-poverty-influence-learning-william-parrett-
kathleen-budge