The aim is to improve academic achievement

At a meeting of the Education Committee this morning, it was agreed to enter into a partnership with the town's nursery and primary schools for a new development project aimed at improving academic achievement in all the town's schools.

The development project is planned for two years and is aimed at enhancing literacy, engagement and the desire to learn across all fields and subjects, with a special emphasis on Icelandic and mathematics.

A memo from the council states that the policy and objective of the education authorities in Hafnarfjörður is for pupils in Hafnarfjörður to be at least on a par with pupils in neighbouring municipalities in terms of academic achievement, and this project is an important step in that direction.

,“For the past 5-6 years, the schools of Hafnarfjörður have been below the national average in standardised tests, and considerably below the average of other municipalities in the capital region. That is something we will no longer accept and we are placing great emphasis on turning it around," says Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, chair of the Hafnarfjörður Education Committee.

An ambitious literacy project has been underway this school year, which aims to improve reading skills and reading comprehension in the town's nursery and primary schools. The new project, which has now been approved, also aims to promote literacy and improve academic achievement with a special focus on Icelandic and mathematics, and these projects will therefore support one another. The education authorities are focusing on the infrastructure of school operations and, in addition to the above, 120 million króna will be allocated to various development projects in the current financial year.

„This development project, which has now been approved, is a good addition to that, but will place a special emphasis on Icelandic and mathematics. These projects therefore support each other well.  We have everything we need here in Hafnarfjörður to be at the forefront; we have excellent staff, schools and students, and we need to find out what needs to be done to improve academic achievement and respond immediately by putting our money where our mouth is,“  says Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, chair of the education committee.