Education Minister Priya Manickchand says she is confident that the pilot project which was implemented earlier this year will have a positive impact on the performance of Math students who are sitting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.
The decision to implement the four-month long project came in the wake of continued poor results in Math. There was a 30% pass rate last year at the examination.
The minister had told Stabroek News that the ministry could not sit back and allow this crop of children to go down the same road, hence the new project. And it was not a project that was just pulled out of thin air, Manickchand said, as there was consultation with teachers and an attempt had been made to have parents involved. It is hoped that there would be an increase of 20% in the pass rate for Mathematics at the next CSEC examination.
“I am absolutely sure that the programme has had a positive impact. Fortunately, we have only a short while to wait to actually see what the results, as far as it relates to grades, will be,” the minister said recently.
She said that students had showed an undoubtedly renewed interest in doing well in the subject area. “There was a revival of the spirit to fight the demons that have been bearing us down in this field of study,” Manickchand stated.
She explained that there were participants from every region in Guyana with more than half the student-writing population in the public school system coming from 41 schools. She said two tests were prepared and conducted by her ministry with the first one in January and the second in March. Satisfaction came, she said, after the results of the second test proved that the students had improved.
Manickchand said she is eager to see how well the students have done in their CSEC examinations which are ongoing.
“We have certainly learnt some lessons during this period. I am gravely worried about SBAs (School-Based Assessment) not being completed until very late and very close to the actual exams. This must change and we are on our way to changing this. I am deeply worried too about the syllabus not being completed on time. This, too, we shall be changing,” she said.
Manickchand had previously told this newspaper that even if the project did not achieve the pass rate envisioned it would not mean it was a failure, but rather that the time was not sufficient.
She noted, however, that there would never be a four-month programme again as those who will be entering fifth form would be on a year programme, and the students in the lower classes right down to grade seven would have more years.
“In about four, five years I don’t expect us to be seeing 30% pass at all… I am positive that… once we roll this out and stick to it [there will be an improvement in the Mathematics pass rate],” she declared.
