CARICOM leaders to discuss poor maths performance

Last Updated on Thursday, 5 September 2024, 23:34 by Writer

Leaders of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are set to discuss poor performance in mathematics by children across the region, and already President Irfaan Ali is suggesting that declining grades in that subject might be due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The issue of mathematics has now captured the attention of every single head of state and Prime Minister in the region, and it is now an agenda for the Heads of Government in CARICOM. That is to tell you the issues and challenges that we face,” he said at the commissioning of the new Yarrowkabra Secondary School.

The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) last month reported that only 36 percent of students across the region received passing grades for mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), a seven percentage point decrease compared to last year. CXC’s Director of Operations, Dr Nicole Manning emphasized the need for improvement in each territory.

Dr Ali said Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley recently told him that she intended to take the issue of maths to the next CARICOM Summit slated for February 2025 because she believed that the region was in a crisis in mathematics. “It is not a Jamaica issue, Barbados issue, Trinidad issue or your Guyana issue. It has now become a collective issue that we must address and here in Guyana, we have
to be innovative,” he said,

With Guyana having recorded a CSEC Mathematics’ pass rate of 31 percent in 2024 compared to 34 per cent last year, the President of Guyana pondered whether the declining rate of success was linked to the more than two-year long COVID-19 pandemic. “Now also COVID, Mathematics required more direct contact, more group, more analytics, more teachers-to-student relationship, more teaching time, whether COVID itself had a greater impact on students’ performance in mathematics than other subject area, because you can read and follow in other subject areas, but in mathematics, you need to have more problem-solving approach. You have to do formulas, understand formulas, understand analytics. That can be also an offshoot of the problem of COVID,” he said.

Other reasons for Guyana’s declining math performance, he said, might be the effectiveness of teaching delivery, children shying
away from the problem-solving mode of mathematics, and fear of the subject.

Dr Ali said he asked Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand not to await for next year’s CARICOM discussion on maths but conduct introspection, and ascertain what globally available tools could be used to improve performance in the subject. “We’re investing in the
digitisation of education, the digitisation of our textbooks, the digitisation of our teaching material, the digitisation of our learning material, digitisation of our delivery,” he said.

Government’s Department of Public Information reported that the Yarrowkabra Secondary School has opened its doors to some 1,019 students from several villages along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, offering a stable and conducive learning environment.

The GY$790 million learning facility was officially commissioned on Thursday. It accommodates students from seven previously closed primary tops, as well as some from Covent Garden, Supply and Providence primary schools.

It also features 11 departments including entrepreneurial, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and TVET (technical and vocational education and training) skills, with a cohort of 65 teachers.

The Yarrowkabra Secondary School is fully equipped with three science laboratories, TVET labs, a main lecture hall, eight Grade Seven smart classrooms, and additional buildings.

However, due to the growing number of students, 10 more classrooms are needed to accommodate the demand. Minister Manickchand said that bids have already been extended for the construction of these classrooms.