–to begin work on restructuring curriculum

THE Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP) on Tuesday launched a two-day Mathematics Workshop at the Cyril Potter College of Education. The Mathematics workshop is aimed at guiding and improving the process of how Mathematics is delivered to each individual in the education system.

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hudson, in his opening statement, spoke to the fact that the Ministry of Education believes in networking and working together to effectively see improvement.

“Change comes when people band together”, he said, adding that it is this act of solidarity that can help persons achieve full potential for efficiency.

He further stated that it is for this reason the focus group sessions are a great initiative. He opined that education is complex and thus any changes for betterment cannot be done instantaneously, but must and will be progressive.

Hudson expressed his concern for the criteria in place for students to matriculate, that being, passes in both English and Mathematics, and stated that it is along these lines of concern that the ministry wishes for the programme to be embedded in the Ministry of Education’s Strategic Plan 2019 – 2030.

He also took the opportunity to remind the teachers that they have a pivotal role to play in equipping students to achieve their full potential.

Dr. Pier Angeli Clarke, the lead consultant working along with the Ministry of Education on the initiative, started by addressing the trainee teachers present, and informed them that her team took a sample of the performance standards of the students, as well as their content standard, to use as a sample for evaluation.

She explained how the team went about restructuring the mathematics teaching content, using the information she gathered from her evaluation.

Dr. Clarke said that the team does not wish to make rash decisions as it relates to restructuring, but wish to bring Guyana’s mathematics content structure to a higher standard without a complete overhaul.

“Making rash decisions and implementations would not really help you,” were her sentiments as she continued to explain that their main aim is to ensure that Guyana’s Mathematics system move towards 21st Century standards.

She stated that she is of the view that these changes will prove very effective in the way the content is being taught to the children, as well as improve the quality of the content itself.

Senior Education Officer, Ameer Ali, stated that the project was a sub-component of the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project. He further said that the project was aimed at improving how Mathematics is taught within the school system.

Ali explained that the process, which was used to establish the standard for the GSEIP project, was complex and developed by consultants from the World Bank and the education specialist and personnel from the Ministry of Education, who worked together collectively to devise a comprehensive plan on how to restructure the way Mathematics is taught.

Additionally, he pointed out that following the completion of the first draft sometime in the future, there are plans for having many more focus group sessions, and that the programme would be made available to the general public.

This will afford members of the general public the opportunity to help to improve the project by sharing their experiences and offering advice on how the project could be improved.

The Project Coordinator of the GSEIP, Jimmy Bhojedat, pitched the idea of having a consultant, who will be helping with regards to what they have seen during the diagnostic assessments which they conducted. He spoke to the fact that some teaching modules are being developed to restructure the Mathematics Curriculum.

Bhojedat explained that various interventions will be done through master trainers. He also highlighted an interactive space, which is an online platform that the Mathematics teachers could use to assist each other as well as receive help from other math professionals.