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Pupils benefit from NCERD’s interactive Maths initiative
An educator interacts with pupils during a ‘Maths Clinic’ at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development
“Maths is a thing anybody can do it,” has become a popular jingle that has infiltrated the national airwaves, compliments of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).
The move wasn’t accidental but rather very intentional. It aims at arousing the Mathematics curiosity of children, particularly those at the primary level.
In order to help advance this move, NCERD, a crucial arm of the Ministry of Education, yesterday spearheaded a Mathematics Clinic for Grade Six pupils of schools within Georgetown and Region Four.
According to Chief Education Officer (ag), Marcel Hutson, the event yesterday came as part of a Mathematics intervention that was introduced by the Ministry to help improve the performances of pupils at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
“The clinic is only an aspect of the intervention…the intervention has seven components and one of the components had to do with an awareness programme and the clinic was part of the awareness programme,” related Hutson.
“You will see our children are having hands-on experience in terms of what to expect, in terms of how they ought to conduct themselves at the different levels.”
According to Hutson, it is important to ensure that the Grade Six pupils are well prepared since they will be engaged in the NGSA within a matter of weeks. The 2017 sitting of the NGSA is scheduled for April 12 and April 13.
“This session [yesterday] is geared more to acclimatising them, getting them to understand what to expect so that we could experience improved performances…we really want to see an improvement in the performances of our children as compared to what we got last year,” Hutson said yesterday.
As part of the intervention to improve performances in Mathematics, Hutson related that the other components that have been introduced include, the training of teachers in content and methodology; establishment of cluster meetings in regions where it was feasible; purchasing of textbooks and materials to pupils to have hands-on experience and amplifying the notion of public awareness through music, drama, the use of the internet, radio and newspapers to encourage parents to come on board.
While yesterday’s event was the first Maths Clinic in Georgetown, Director of NCERD, Ms. Jennifer Cumberbatch, revealed that another was conducted in Region Eight and others are slated for other Education Districts.
According to Cumberbatch, “What we have done is to look at the areas of lack…where the children are not doing very well or they do not understand, and we are employing methodologies.
“Some teachers are familiar with these but some of them are not familiar so we are reminding them and telling them; we are giving them a lot of hands-on work.”
The NCERD Director pointed out, yesterday, too, that “we have found that the geometry of the Mathematics is giving the children some trouble.
“We know that children learn best through handling so we have them handling the shapes and so on and showing them how to handle those angles and the different things in geometry.”
“Over the years we found also that children need help in finding the area and perimeter…when they have to think a little bit more they have some difficulties so we are giving them exercises, having them do actual measurement.
“We are also giving them work sheets that they can actually take away; some of them are actually working out the problem right there,” informed Cumberbatch.
She related that the initiative has been called a Maths Clinic because “when you have a clinic there is a doctor who diagnoses and helps, and gives you solutions and so on. So we are happy that the Grade Six teachers are actually here to find out how we are actually helping the children; they are also learning the hands-on way of teaching the children.”
Mathematics is especially important, Cumberbatch said, since some of the concepts can be abstract.
“What we are emphasising is that the children need to be doing more so that the concepts can remain with them…they need to be asking a lot of questions…I am very pleased with what I am hearing and what I am seeing because the children are grasping the concepts…no longer we want them to regurgitate information.”
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