Teachers to be held responsible for low Math passes as Govt. rolls out intervention programme

Sep 11, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Education will hold teachers and schools accountable for students’ Mathematics results, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain said on Tuesday.

The CEO made the announcement at the launch of the Ministry of Education’s Mathematics Intervention Programme which is aimed at improving the pass rate of students across the country at the CSEC level.

In outlining what the intervention will entail, the CEO said yesterday, “There is also going to be for the first time, maybe in the history of the country, teachers and schools are going to be held accountable for the results. In Guyana’s education system, you could do anything and get away with it but if you teach for 10 years and no student passes under your watch there is really little or nothing that could be done and this is really a problem, it’s really, really a problem.”

The programme which was launched at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) is specifically designed for Grade 10 and 11 students who are preparing to sit the CSEC examinations. Kaieteur News understands that the intervention stemmed after the students not only in Guyana but across the Caribbean recorded a low grade in mathematics at this year’s CSEC exams. This year, Guyana recorded a decline from 34% in 2023 to 31% this year.

Listing some of the interventions that will be put in place starting this new school term, Hussain said there will be a diagnostic test administered to find out where the students are and once that is done, on a school-by-school basis in conjunction with the monitors the ministry will decide the way forward, whether there will be need for after school classes.

Further, there will be national mock exams so teachers are aware of the students’ level throughout the academic year. Additionally, live classes will be done to target School Based Assessments (SBAs).

“Classes will also be streamed through the Guyana Learning Channel and if possible the EdYou FM,” he mentioned.

According to Hussain, there will be a national worksheet circulated fortnightly based on the topics that are being taught in schools, and Quiz Me will be utilized for paper one questions. He detailed that there is also going to be some degree of targeted training to specific schools where there is a need as well as the monitoring of the SBAs.

“One of the other things is that if we find there is a need for more coaching, for more assistance to schools we are willing to look at the possibility of taking the year two CAPE students and using them as coaching within the school systems,” he mentioned.

In addition to that, the ministry has identified 50 schools across the country that have been steadily recording Grade 4 passes in Mathematics. These schools will see monitors who have the expertise in subject visiting the classrooms to ensure the subject is being thoroughly taught.

Parents and guardians are being urged to play their part in ensuring their children are attending classes and are being taught.

“This is not all at the feet of the teachers, and parents I’m saying clearly to you, that you have as much responsibility in this as the teachers, you don’t have to be a mathematician, you need to ensure that your children are in school because the teachers will say once they have registered for CSEC they don’t ever come back to school, parents you have to be a part of this. We hope that these measures put in place will help the students to ensure that they do well at CSEC,” the CEO related.

Meanwhile, in her remarks, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said that the declining pass rates in Mathematics are not limited to Guyana. She posited that it is a global problem and also referenced English.

The minister disclosed too that soon the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will meet to discuss the decline in Mathematics seen this year in the Region. Minister Manickchand said that a similar intervention programme was implemented in the past and was successful.

“At the end of that programme, we saw that in those schools where the intervention was which is very similar to this, those schools had raised their percentage pass by between 10 and 12 percent, so it means then that this is not a hopeless cause, we can fix this,” she explained.

The Education Minister said that the Head Teachers, Deputies, teachers, and monitors are critical to the implantation of the programme.

“I don’t believe teachers deliberately stood down on children and didn’t teach, I believe teachers have problems, they don’t know how to teach particular topics, they don’t know how to do it effectively that might be stemming from the college, which is why we are in the college so this is a holistic programme and that is why for me the most important component of programme will be the monitors,” she said.

Manickchand said that through the intervention, the ministry hopes to see the pass rate in Mathematics climb to an average of 50 percent.

Further, she disclosed that monitors assigned to the schools will also be assessed. Should there be no improvements, then they will be removed.

“You’re signing up to use your expertise, and your God-given talent and training over the years to go into classrooms to make sure teachers are teaching the curriculum, they we are finishing the curriculum and that we are teaching it effectively,” the minister told the monitors.

Additionally, the minister disclosed that her ministry has established a Math Help Line – 736 Math (6284), aimed at addressing questions or concerns students and teachers may have.

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• intervention, Math, Ministry of Education, programme, teachers

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