Guyanese teen designs App to reverse decline in Maths

Feb 28, 2017 News

The internet is the new tool being utilised to improve the Mathematics grades of students sitting the National Grade Six Assessment. An online application was launched yesterday, by the Science, Technology, Engineering,

First Lady, Mrs Sandra Granger, poses with Ms. Karen Abrams and two Grade Six Students who attended the launch. (GINA PHOTO)

and Mathematics (STEM) Guyana project team, with the assistance of First Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger. This was done at the National Racquet Centre on Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.
The National Grade Six – ‘NGSA Practice Exams’ App, which can now be accessed via the Google Play Store, was designed by 18-year-old overseas-based Guyanese, Asha Christian, the daughter of Karen Abrams, who is Co-Founder of STEMGuyana.
“Essentially, she did it, but the STEM team had some input as to the content of the app,” Abrams told Kaieteur News.
She explained that much like a game, the app allows children to select Mathematics test papers from the year 2010 through 2016, as well as the number of questions they want to be quizzed on.
“They can choose either Paper One or Paper Two, and as they answer the questions, the app will indicate whether it is wrong or right.”
In the case where a child does not understand how to solve any of the outlined Mathematical problems, each of the 327 questions that makes up the app, has an accompanying tutorial video.
“That would help them to understand how the answer is arrived at and so. With continuous practice, a child is likely to get a better.”
The App Project has four phases. The first is testing aspect, which saw a total of 50 students and their parents in Regions One, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and 10, using the app to ensure its functionality. Phase Two was executed today with the actual launch and rolling out of the project. Phase Three entails the STEMGuyana team seeking funding to purchase tablets and set up Wifi connections for the convenience of students across the country.
Phase four will see STEMGuyana rolling out a wider programme to assist students all over the Caribbean.
Late this afternoon, President David Granger announced that via the National Endowment for Science and Technology (NEST), the government will be providing critical support to Phase Two of the project. This phase is expected to last for 14 months.
The Head of State committed specifically to providing 100 tablets that will be distributed to students preparing for next year’s sitting of the NGSA.
“The results of the National Grade Six examinations indicated that there has been very poor performance over the years in all of the subject areas, but the worse performance that has been recorded is in Mathematics,” Granger said.
He went on to explain that the results were so bad, that last year, 2016, not a single child in Region Nine passed the subject.
“We established a special PEER programme for Emergency Education Reform at that level, so the PEER programme is central to improving the quality of performance of Guyanese children at the National Grade Six level, particularly in Mathematics,” the Commander In Chief said.
Meanwhile, according to Abrams, the testing phase of the project was so well received, that there were several requests for STEMGuyana to create apps that would target other subject areas. For this to become a reality, the team has already engaged the National Center for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).
It is possible that the current app will be adjusted to facilitate questions and tutorials in relation to other subject areas like English Language, Science and Social Studies. This is likely to become possible by June of this year. (Rehana Ahamad)

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