Additional compulsory hours, AI to address students’ low Maths scores

Given the 34 per cent pass rate in Mathematics during the recent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination, President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that the Government will be embarking on a comprehensive strategy to improve performance in the core subject.
The President made these remarks on Tuesday during the commissioning of the Victoria Lily Primary School in Tuschen, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).
“Because of our concern about our performance in Mathematics, I had some initial conversations with the Education Minister and I’m of the view that perhaps, we need to, in a very targeted manner, create additional hours for Mathematics in the secondary school system, especially at the exam level – additional compulsory hours,” Ali said.
He added that efforts will also be made to consider available tools in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can be incorporated into the school curriculum to deliver better learning outcomes in the subject.
“Because we cannot continue with the existing pass rates in mathematics, it is unacceptable, and we must change it and we will change it,” Ali said.
“So, we are going to see in the next two weeks, the Ministry deploying a comprehensive strategy to address the issue of Mathematics,” Ali said.
Results for CSEC and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) were released on August 24, with Guyana recording slight dips in its overall performance this year.
Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain had made this announcement when the results were officially released by the Education Ministry at the Anna Regina Multilateral School (ARMS) on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).
Across the country, a total of 12,118 students sat the CSEC examinations, an increase from 10,368 in 2022. There were 75,764 entries. Overall, the pass rate was 65 per cent this year, a decline from 68.5 per cent last year.
Though stable performances were noted in English Language, Mathematics, Technical Drawing, Caribbean History, and Economics, the pass rate for Mathematics was still low, at 34 per cent, while the pass rate for Additional Mathematics was 60 per cent. (G13)