Minister of Education Shaik Baksh Thursday spelt out a number of initiatives that the government was taking to alleviate the shortage of qualified teachers in the sciences and mathematics, and said that results in the latter subject area have been improving over the years. The minister was speaking in Parliament in response to a question by PNCR Member of Parliament, Amna Ally. She had asked what programmes the Ministry of Education is engaged in to alleviate the problem of inadequate mathematics and science teachers.
In answer, the minister conceded that there is an inadequacy of mathematics and science teachers in the school system and that this has been impacting somewhat on the quality of the results in these areas.
“Notwithstanding the shortages, there have been improved results [in the CSEC pass rate for mathematics]. In 2008, it was 30.6 percent. In 2009, 31.5 percent, and in 2010 it was 34.5 percent. So we have been having improvements in the areas as we progress. But clearly, we would like to see, and the public expects, significant improvements in these areas,” the minister said.
He said that the ministry has been engaged in a number of programmes and initiatives to deal with the critical shortages in these areas. “Firstly, we have launched a non-graduate certificate course in mathematics and in the single sciences – biology, chemistry and physics,” the minister said.
“So far we have graduated 15 students, and 29 are in training in the area of mathematics. This is being conducted at NCERD. In science, we have 36 students in training and they are to graduate in September. So this will improve the human resources in the system,” he said.
“Importantly, we have incentivised the system so that when teachers complete the non-graduate certificate course, they receive increments in the scale and it is the intention to continue with this programme in the coming years,” he said.
The minister said that the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) has been encouraging students to opt for science and mathematics as majors for the trained teachers’ certificate. “While CPCE has been doing that, many students have not really been opting. These seem to be very difficult areas. They have been encouraging students but some students prefer to take the other areas,” he said.
He added that the CPCE is giving priority to these areas for admission. “Also, what we have done from the year 2010 is, we are accepting CSEC grades 1 to 3, which are the grades for acceptance into the University of Guyana. Previously, CPCE would only allow you to opt for science as a major if you had grades 1 and 2 in the science subjects. We have reviewed that…so you can expect that a larger number of students will now opt and be eligible,” the minister said.
“We have waived the requirements for students of CPCE who have graduated and would like to proceed to the University of Guyana. Normally, the student teachers will have to wait for two years. We are allowing the science and mathematics graduates to proceed immediately,” he said.
He mentioned that students at the CAPE level are also being recruited to teach at the secondary level. He said too that qualified teachers from overseas will also be sourced to fill the gap where the teaching of the sciences and mathematics is concerned.