( L - R )Ellis, Ward, Ashley, Chevannes

The Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) guest editors for the March 3 publication of The Gleaner see the transforming of volatile communities into violence-free ones as the move that will ultimately result in a peaceful Jamaica. With this aim being a critical part of the non-profit agency's mission and vision, one of its main peace intervention programmes has been termed the 'Safe Communities Initiative'.

The Safe Communities Initiative is ushered in when a community, whether on its own or through the effort of external agents, establishes a ceasefire and consequently calls on the VPA for external assistance in carrying the peace process further. Thereafter, the VPA, once it confirms the status quo, immediately mobilises that assistance to the scale necessary to help the community rise to the next level of peace and stability.

As a way of encouraging communities to strive to achieve and maintain a peaceful coexistence, the VPA also proposes that the private sector and the Government adopt a scale of incentives that would be proportionately linked to the efforts of the communities. In other words, the external assistance is calibrated to serve as an incentive for rejecting violence and grasping peace, which translates into development.

Another of the VPA's main projects is the 'Learning for Life' initiative. This is a programme that uses Auto Skills, a computer software that provides an individualised and highly effective and scalable literacy intervention solution that helps struggling students of all ages, skills and abilities to master the fundamental skills of reading.

Three-step approach

The programme uses a three-step approach, with the first providing a snapshot of each student's reading ability relative to his grade level to prescribe the student's indivi-dualised training programme. During training, students progress at their own pace to master foundation reading skills. Step two allows for students' progress to be closely monitored, identifying common errors, response time and total time on task. This information is captured in student level classrooms and school reports available to educator. The third step of the programme uses the results of the monitoring stage to intervene by modifying the training pro-gramme to meet individual student needs. By continuously adapting and adjusting students' needs in real time, the Auto Skills programme is able to deliver a highly individualised training experience, which maximises learning time and helps each student get the most out of the programme.

VPA guest editors include Professor Barry Chevannes, Diane Ellis, Elizabeth Ward and Dr Deanna Ashley.