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Govt. should focus energy on fixing Math problems rather than surveying schools with pit latrines – PNCR
Kaieteur News – The People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) believes that the Ministry of Education should place its focus on policies that tackle the recent decline in pass rate for Mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Examinations Council (CSEC) rather than surveying schools with pit latrines.
PNCR Treasurer, Elson Low
Chairman of the PNCR and Shadow Minister of Natural Resources, Shurwayne Holder on Friday during the party’s weekly press conference spoke of the three percent decline in mathematics passes which represents a drop from 34 percent in 2023 to 31 percent in 2024.
“I was shocked to see or to learn that the Government via Priya Manickchand the Minister of Education is now focused on doing a study collecting data on schools that … still have a pit latrine after four years of oil money, you know rather than focus on the Mathematics and the English,” Holder said referencing a Stabroek News article on the subject.
While citing that under the PNCR government the Mathematics pass rate was 48 percent, Holder further stressed, “…They (Government) should be focusing on why about two-thirds of the students who wrote CXC (Caribbean Examinations Council) don’t have more than five subjects, (from) grade one to three, they should worry, they should be very, very worried.”
Furthermore, he pointed out that in light of the increased budget for the education sector, Mathematics pass rates continue to decline.
“Something is definitely wrong and the budget has increased,” the PNCR Chairman said while the Government, “Prefer to focus on the top one percent, those getting …20-29 subjects at CXC.”
Chairman of the PNCR, Shurwayne Holder
Holder said, “It is very, very disheartening to see how they’re (Government) trying to sort of trick the population into believing that all is well in the education sector, much, much more need to be to be done.”
Similar comments were voiced by Elson Low, the party’s Treasurer who noted the government’s recent initiative which mandates more time for the teaching of Mathematics in schools.
He said, “The Government is operating as if they’re somehow shocked… Now the government is woken up to the fact that there’s a serious mathematics problem in this country. ”
Low also raised concerns about the large amount of money being pumped into the education sector but the results are poor.
“ … It is very difficult to spend much more money, far more money and have worse results and yet here we are with the community,” he said adding, “So now they (Government) are scrambling at the last minute to try to fix an issue that they should have been focused on from the very beginning.”
Low reminded that though Guyana is blessed with a plethora of resources, many citizens performed poorly in Mathematics and English Language and this hinders their ability to benefit from the opportunities that exist.
“Of course a large portion of the population dropped out of high school before they could even take those examinations,” he said noting that “One of the things we want to see in that training program is people go and take their Mathematics exam again so they can open up new opportunities for themselves.”
The PNCR officials stated that building the foundation of human capital is vital in terms of advancing the country’s development.
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