Emergency response to counter low Math scores

Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 September 2023, 18:09 by Denis Chabrol

VICTORIA LILY PRIMARY SCHOOL: Students, teachers, parents and special invitees at the official opening of the school.

President Irfaan Ali on Tuesday announced that in the coming weeks an emergency response strategy would be unveiled to address unsatisfactory performance in Mathematics.

Addressing the opening of the Victoria Lily Primary School at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, he said the Ministry of Education would soon add compulsory teaching hours for students who would be sitting Mathematics. “I’m of the view that, perhaps, in a very targeted manner create additional hours for Mathematics in the secondary school system especially at the exam level; additional compulsory hours,” he said.

The President he has already had initial discussions with the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand about extended teaching hours for Mathematics.

Dr Ali also tasked the Ministry of Education with exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in teaching Mathematics in Guyana. “…and for us also to move to see what is available, too, in terms of AI- Artificial Intelligence- and to incorporate AI into the delivery of learning outcomes in Mathematics,” he said.

Vowing that his administration would launch an offensive against “unacceptable” grades in Math, the President said in the coming days the Ministry of Education would be making a concerted effort to tackle falling Math grades. “We’re going to see in the next two weeks the Ministry deploying a comprehensive strategy to address the issue of Mathematics,” he said.