Members of the Cabinet met yesterday deliberated as a matter of “extreme urgency and grave national importance”, the unsatisfactory results in mathematics nationwide, at the 2016 Grade Six Examination.
A release today from the Ministry of the Presidency said that senior officials from the Ministry of Education and Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine were engaged by Cabinet on the falling performance of students in mathematics at this year’s Grade six assessment.
The release noted that for many years Guyana has consistently failed to achieve acceptable pass rates in mathematics and that the previous approach to this problem has been inadequate.
The release said that this year for the first time the Ministry of Education contracted the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) to conduct the examination for the Grade Six students in Guyana. The basis of assessment employed by the Caribbean Examination Council was radically different from what was used previously and this year there was an increased focus on reasoning and a decreased emphasis on retention.
The new method,the release said, has exposed even more the weakness of the previous approach to education adopted by the Ministry of Education in previous years.
“Cabinet considers this situation one of national urgency requiring its focused attention and commitment to finding adequate and appropriate solutions in the shortest possible time.
“As part of a plan for short and medium term measures, Cabinet called on the Ministry of Education and its technical advisors to identify all appropriate steps needed to remedy this situation. Those steps would include remedial training of teachers, better and more varied text books, more teaching aids and better use of technology in the delivery of education”, the release said.