Education Ministry launches locally produced science text series

Mar 29, 2014 News

As part of its efforts to tackle the challenge of high-priced textbooks, coupled with the need to ensure a wider distribution of these reading materials at the primary level, the Ministry of Education yesterday launched a revised version of its Primary Science textbook ‘Easy Path’ series.

A display of old and new versions of the Primary Science textbooks.

Titled “Science Around Us”, the publications, which were written by local persons, among them educators from both the public and private sectors, together with experts at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), are already available in schools across the country.
The textbooks will also be made available online by the Education Ministry.
The launch of the locally published primary texts was officially done yesterday at NCERD, Kingston, Georgetown, before a gathering of educators and pupils, some of whom fluently shared excerpts of the publications with the audience.
In presenting an overview of the revised publications, Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO), (Primary), Raymond Marcel Hutson, said that “when we take into consideration the objective of primary education we recognised that, that can be divided into two broad categories.”
Moreover, he pointed to the need for primary texts to stimulate curiosity and encourage critical and creative thinking even as a foundation is created for Science at the Secondary level.
“At primary, based on what our children would have been taught, they are able to make that kind of transition that is needed at the secondary level,” noted Hutson, who further amplified the importance of acquiring both knowledge and skills of scientific enquiry. At the same time, he said that there is need for questions to be identified, by those involved in the process, even as moves are made to address these scientifically.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand and ACEO Primary, Raymond Marcel Hutson, (fifth and fourth from left respectively in front row) are flanked by the contributors to the Science textbooks.

And in order to fulfil these aims, Hutson said that there is need to systematically engage teachers and pupils in fun ways so that they could develop a love for science. “We get the feeling that sometimes our children, because of how they are being taught, the love for the subject area is not there. Basically, these books are so designed to give them that kind of motivation,” said the Primary ACEO.
Although she regarded the launch yesterday as an “extremely important” undertaking, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, said that the Ministry was however able to showcase the kinds of work that is consistently done at NCERD, which is in fact the nerve centre for education.
Speaking to the genesis of the revision of the Science texts, Manickchand disclosed that “we were looking last year at how we could best prepare and serve our children, in a strategic and organised way…For me I wasn’t happy that we were spending large sums on textbooks but not every child had a textbook in their hand.”
It was for this reason, she said, that a decision was made, at the level of the Ministry, for every single child, from Grades One through Six, to have the basic texts even to take home with them throughout their schooling years.
These basic texts, she said, are for the areas of English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science.
But although the Mathematics, English and Social Studies textbooks were in place, Manickchand said that there were some concerns with regards to the Science texts. “Because we were reproducing these books we had some discolorations; things that are not very attractive to children…We said that this is not our standard; this is not the standard we are going to hold ourselves to,” stressed the Minister.
As such consideration was given to having the textbooks re-published with a view to making them more user-friendly.
However, a gap analysis intended to determine if the curriculum guide was reflected in the textbooks was recommended by the Ministry’s Science Coordinator, Petal Punalall-Jettoo, a move which led to the realisation that there were some limitations.
For example, the Minister said that it was found that while the curriculum guide warranted teaching on climate change, the textbook did not contain such materials. “What we had was a teacher teaching climate change because it is in the curriculum guide, our standard textbooks not having climate change in it and our students having to go to another textbook just for that one chapter on climate change…
“So we end up using four or five science books to cover an entire curriculum which is, in any language, highly undesirable,” asserted the Minister.
A move was made to revise the primary science textbooks. And according to Minister Manickchand yesterday, “I am pleased to say that these books are already in the schools…Every single student is supposed to be in possession of a copy.”
The Education Ministry has mandated that all of the 85,000 pupils in the country’s primary schools should be in possession of Science, Social Studies, Mathematics and English textbooks. Arrangements, according to Manickchand, have also been made for the publications to be accessed by pupils in private schools.
Meanwhile, the Minister disclosed yesterday that the Ministry is also in the process of writing its own Readers which is set to be called the ‘Atlantic Readers’.
And according to Manickchand, it is expected that “these Readers will be the envy of authors as well as users across the Region.”
The Readers, she explained, will be aligned to international literacy standards and will be in compliance with the associated benchmarks that are in place. Supporting workbooks are also slated to be completed simultaneously.
“We are almost finished with Grades One to Three, and we hope to introduce these Readers by September and there will be Readers from Grades one to Six; our local Readers written by our local writers,” said Manickchand.
She expressed confidence, too, that the publications will be marketed and “will be snapped up across the Region because of the excellent work and alignment going into those Readers.”