(Jamaica Observer) Jamaica will not meet its target of 85 per cent of students achieving mastery in the Grade Four Numeracy Test (GFNT) if the education system continues on its present path, according to Dr Tamika Benjamin, director of the Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching at The Mico University College.
Dr Benjamin made the ominous observation yesterday as she pointed to what she termed a “cycle of underperformance” in Math at all levels of the education system, resulting largely from a shortage of quality teachers.
“There is no way we are getting to 85 per cent (mastery) by 2015,” Dr Benjamin said at the weekly Observer Monday Exchange. “We’re not seeing a systematic approach to addressing the problem.”
She said given the poor performance of students sitting the test at present, achieving the target of 85 per cent within three years was also “unreasonable”.
Results of the GFNT for last year showed only 49 per cent of the students achieved mastery in the exam, an increase from the 41 per cent who achieved mastery in 2010.
The Ministry of Education has set a target of 85 per cent of students achieving mastery in the test by 2015.
Dr Benjamin explained that many students entered teacher training institutions with deficiencies in Math, which they in turn passed on to their students when they became teachers, thus continuing the cycle of underperformance.
She called for diagnostic testing of students entering teacher training institutions, as “some trainees were barely passing (Math) and getting into the system (as teachers)”.
Dr Benjamin indicated that passes in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) could be misleading as there were students, some with grade one passes in Math, who struggled to master the first year in the subject at college level. She blamed this on what she called “the watering down of what it (a grade one in CSEC Math) meant years ago”. She explained that what it takes to get a grade one pass in the subject today is vastly different from what a student had to master in the past.
As government policy, each of the 790 public primary level schools throughout Jamaica should have at least one teacher with specialised training in Math, Dr Benjamin suggested.
“Within five years we should identify all the competent teachers in the system and ensure each primary school is equipped with at least one certified Math teacher who would be in charge of teaching Math at that school,” she said.
She also called for a system of mentoring new teachers to overcome whatever knowledge gaps they may have.
Head of the Mathematics Department at Mico, Novlet Plunkett, said a course in Math is compulsory for every student at the institution. She said the university has insisted on this policy despite meeting resistance from student teachers.