Majority in the National Assembly revisited

Dear Editor,
The composition of the National Assembly is 65. It is generally accepted that majority is more than 50 per cent of 65 unless otherwise specifically defined in the Constitution of Guyana.
Calculating 50 per cent of 65 gives a result of 32.5. This is a theoretical number establishing the boundary for determining what number will constitute a majority. It is not a number to be tagged to any member of the National Assembly. The number 33 is greater than the theoretical number 32.5 (50 per cent). Therefore, the number 33 represents the majority.
Calculating mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation from a set of numbers are all theoretical values that are used to analyse data that is presented. They are theoretical constructs and must be treated as such.
To suggest that 32.5 should be rounded up to 33 and then add 1 to produce the magical number 34 as the majority is grossly misleading. This is intellectual dishonesty. Further, it is a disservice to the education of our people. This is part of the challenges that mathematics teachers in the country have to confront on a daily basis in the classrooms – misconceptions, misconceptions, and more!!

Regards,
Mohandatt Goolsarran