In the Reading Programme, Didasko hopes to enter schools to provide extra aid to schools in need in terms of locality—as in rural areas, and shortage of teachers, as well as, to enhance and refresh the teaching skills of educators. However, the reading programme is not limited to schools but can be conducted in institutes of higher learning, learning centres, day-care centres, community run centres or homes.
The Reading Programme will help supplement the already existing English Language Curriculum in an interesting way as students get to read about the state of Sabah, a state that is hardly mentioned in the curriculum, as textbooks have no bearing on the subject in any form, or mention of the culture or interesting facts about Sabah.
Also, it will be the first implementation of Education targeted at the specific needs of students with the most crucial subject in the Education Curriculum–English, with a Reading Programme to improve the standard of English.
The target group of students is Primary 4 – 6 and Secondary 1 – 5. As the workbooks are graded at proficiency level, this complements the English Language syllabus by providing a supplementary aid for low proficiency level students in Workbooks Basic and Elementary, and higher proficiency level students in Workbooks Intermediate and Advanced.
The Reading Programme is NOT focused on Literacy, meaning that it is not to teach the alphabet and reading, which is why the earliest age for this programme is Year 4 of Primary as by then students would already have the basic rudiments of reading. It is NOT about reading aloud or on pronouncing/articulating words correctly, as this is based on input skill rather than output. It is also NOT about rote learning as in memorizing and reciting what is read. Neither is it based on only Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence alone.
It is made up of all manner of skills that will enable the student to do what the Reading Programme is geared towards—Reading Comprehension. This means that the student is able to understand the text to allow the student to answer questions and follow directions, etc. The learning outcomes can be seen through the students’ ability to complete tasks given in the workbooks. The ultimate goal of this Reading Programme is to enable students to pass the final government examination which is a gauge for further studies. Students are empowered to further their education by passing the English Language paper which allows them to apply for further certificate and diploma level education, and hopefully university, after formal school.