President Ali says
A SPECIAL programme aimed at improving the overall pass rate in Mathematics for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams is being put together by the government, according to President Dr Irfaan Ali.

The Head of State made this disclosure on Monday during a consultative engagement held with teachers from across the country on Monday, which was held at State House.
According to the President, several teachers who have a track record of seeing high pass rates for the subject will be put into a special programme which will see them developing training manuals which include the teaching methods they used to achieve these percentages to then be shared across the country.

He said, “We are putting you in a special programme where you will develop an entire training manual for the teachers and you will develop the same method you used to achieve 96 per cent to be shared across all the schools countrywide.”

Added to this, he noted he was in discussion with the cabinet about the possibility of personally putting a prize for the school that records the highest increase in passes for Mathematics during the next CSEC cycle.

Moreover, he urged the group to challenge themselves to boost the national Mathematics percentage from 39 per cent to 75 per cent. He proposed that incentives could be connected to this shared goal.

“That is why we have to get the best and the best sometimes we all have the same skill but different methods and that method might be working so if we can get all our children to get exposure to that method maybe that is what is needed,” President Ali added.

Meanwhile, he indicated that while some get caught up in celebrating top 10 and top 100 passes, which must be done, a closer look must be taken to increase overall pass rates for various subjects.