In seven of the 16 educational regions of the country, the Ministry of Education (Meduca) began, this March 28, the application of the diagnostic evaluation tests of Let’s all learn to read (ATAL), aimed at students from first to fourth grade of official schools, with the intention of identifying their weaknesses and strengths in literacy and reading comprehension.
The test will be given to 323,532 students, until next April 15, in the remaining nine educational regions, including the counties. Based on the results qualified by Meduca, pedagogical intervention plans will be implemented that are necessary and that help the teacher to continue the learning process of the students.
According to the organization chart, until April 8, the ATAL evaluation will be applied to 116,271 schoolchildren from educational centers in the regions of San Miguelito, Colón, Chiriquí, Los Santos, Panamá Este, Panamá Norte and Herrera.
Meanwhile, in schools in Bocas del Toro, Central Panama, West Panama, Veraguas, Darién, Coclé and the Ngäbe Buglé, Emberá Wounaan and Guna Yala regions, the test will be applied to 207,261 students.
The fourth grade teacher at the Manuel Belgrano General Basic Education Center, Fulvia de Arosemena, said that this is a diagnosis to start now to see what difficulties or abilities the child has.
“The test contains the writing, the concentration of the child when he is going to write, he has to have the correct spelling and the spaces that he must keep. Knowing what the points are, punctuation marks, question marks that should lead to a fourth grade, that is why this test is important, to try to help the child once we have the results”, explained the teacher.
Meanwhile, Maybelline Mendieta, a first grade educator, pointed out that “this ATAL test, which is diagnostic, will help us determine what level the children are at, how we can advance and what their strengths and weaknesses are.”
