$48M to fix nationwide Maths problem

Government is pumping .6 million in rolling out a Mathematics programme aimed at enhancing the competency level of students in primary schools.
Officials say Guyana has been performing progressively worse in the subject area.
In an effort to solve the problem, Government, through the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), developed a seven-point initiative to improve the performance of students at the primary level.
State Minister Joseph Harmon said Cabinet, in its most recent session, deliberated extensively on the unsatisfactorily results in Mathematics nationwide at the 2016 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) Examinations and developed a plan to address the situation.
Harmon disclosed that the programme would focus on training teachers in content and methodology, facilitating fortnightly cluster meetings in all regions, the recruitment of Mathematics coordinators and monitors, the training of officers and school administrators to supervise the teaching of Maths, preparing and administering a diagnosis assessment of pupils in hinterland before training, enhancing public relations and parental involvement in education, and acquisition of support material for students.
Preparatory works are already underway and Government is mulling the idea of rehiring teachers in the system and recruiting teachers from overseas territories.
The State Minister also underscored the importance of introducing this initiative at the primary level, noting that Government was not excluding the other students at secondary and tertiary levels where difficulties in Mathematics also rampantly exist.
“If you have a problem in the primary, by time you get to the secondary, the problem goes with you because if you don’t deal with it there, by the time you get to the second level, you will get to university and the problem was never dealt with and that is the reason why it is important you deal with it at the primary level,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the sums allotted will fund the programme for the remainder of the year, after which additional monies will be set aside to continue the initiative.