The general purpose of the specific program was for the participants to: (a) embrace a more dynamic perspective of teaching literacy through Literature and, (b) understand a different way of utilising reading and writing teaching strategies as well as applying good practices for transforming students into creative and critical readers and writers.
In Cyprus, according to the results from international evaluation assessments (eg. PIAAC, PISA) but also based on the performance indications from local evaluation programs ( FLP by the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation- ΚΕΕΑ and Pan-Cypriot Access Exams), the phenomenon of low levels of literacy, i.e. reading comprehension and writing production, is strongly observed. More specifically, in these surveys, Cyprus deviates negatively from the international and European average in language literacy skills. Additionally, during the last decades, there have been significant changes around the teaching of language and literacy, although the various proposals that have been formulated in the relevant literature do not seem to relate (Tendolouris & Hatzisavvidis, 2014). However, apart from the remarkable variety of proposals recorded in the literature for understanding the complex concept of literacy and the contribution of literature to it (Koutsoyiannis, 2018), the educational policy in Cyprus, towards teachers, has not (e.g., through Analytical Programs), proceed to formulate a comprehensive and structured proposal for cultivating students' literacy skills, with the contribution of literature. As can be seen, the complexity of students' written and spoken language development has problems that teachers face in the process of appropriating a system of modern practices for the teaching of literacy through literature. Therefore, a problematic situation around the students' ability in reading comprehension and written expression continues to persist. Moreover, a gap is also identified in the effort to train teachers with effective skills to cultivate students' literacy. According to research, it is also clear that the teaching of students' literacy is subject to school-based restrictions, which do not aim at the students' free expression and the activation of all their mental and emotional powers (Moje, 2017). Hence, through the continuously increasing challenges that teachers face in the classrooms, their main goal is to help their students to understand oral texts and thus enrich their written texts (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2015). Considering the above, the Ministry of Education, in the context of the modernization of the educational system, in general, and of the Analytical and Horological Programs, in particular, attaches specific importance to the continuous upgrading of the objectives, the content, the learning process and the effectiveness of the teaching of the Standard Modern Greek Language in Greek Cypriot Public Schools. The Ministry of Education set as the main purpose of teaching the excellent mastery of the Greek Language and the enhancement of students' literacy skills, by developing relevant strategic planning. Studying the current situation in Cyprus, regarding the development and reading and writing and thus the production and understanding of students' speech in the Cypriot educational system, it is concluded that the relative contribution of Literature is evaluated as raw. Therefore, the District Education Office of Larnaca-Famagusta (Primary Education), with the cooperation of Kamares Primary School and Agios Theodoros Primary School, in full alignment with the relevant strategic planning of the Ministry of Education of Cyprus, developed the proposal: "Enriching the Literacy of Students, with the contribution of Literature".