Education Minister Welcomes Assistance From CCE to Strengthen Maths Instruction

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, has welcomed assistance from the Council for Creative Education (CCE), to strengthen mathematics instruction.

The CCE is a pioneering research organisation based in Finland, committed to redefining education through creativity and innovation.

Addressing the opening of a three-day National Mathematics Workshop, which commenced on Tuesday (May 27), at The Mico University College, Dr. Morris Dixon noted that Jamaica is experiencing a “crisis of mathematics”.

The workshop is being led by CCE Director, Heramb Kulkarni, in collaboration with The Mico University College and the Phillip and Christine Gore Family Foundation.

Dr. Morris Dixon shared that only 60 per cent of students were proficient or highly proficient in the 2024 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination, and at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level, only 33.4 per cent of students received a passing grade in mathematics.

“I’m hoping that, through this, you will write to me and give me some solutions or policy-based solutions. Many of you are experimenting in really very interesting ways and you’re seeing results. We need to know about that,” Dr. Morris Dixon said.

She encouraged the 60 teachers who will be benefiting from the workshop to share the knowledge with their colleagues.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Phillip and Christine Gore Family Foundation, Christine Gore, told JIS News that the Foundation is committed to supporting every transformational opportunity that presents itself.

“Our main focus is really early-childhood education because that is the most effective investment in education. But we can’t ignore the older children, and so we have become involved in scholarships to university, at-risk youth programmes and, more recently, remedial education,” she explained.

Mrs. Gore reasoned that Jamaica shines on the track, on the stage, and in tourism and it is now time for the country to shine in education, particularly in mathematics.

“It’s 60 teachers, but we’re now talking about a way of recording the classes and putting them on a website, so that more teachers can access it. We also want to ensure that we support these 60 teachers when they go back into their classroom. So, I’ve asked Mico and CCE Finland to develop a system to continue to support them and monitor them when they go back into the classroom,” she said.

Mrs. Gore further noted that she has asked them to devise a system of assessing the teachers’ performance, so that rewards can be offered to those who are the most innovative and most effective in spreading the knowledge in their schools and communities.

For his part, President of The Mico University College, Dr. Asburn Pinnock, said the institution’s mandate is to ensure that it trains competent mathematics teachers for Jamaica.

“We realise the importance of mathematics to the development of our people and the development of our nation. There’s a close alignment or link between the mastery of mathematics and economic development because this is a basis for the key professions in commerce, engineering and medicine,” Dr. Pinnock said.

He pointed out that mathematics must remain high on the agenda of subjects for which educators receive continuous training.

“One of the greatest challenges we have, though, is to reduce the anxiety level or the fear of mathematics. Persons are willing to say that I can’t do maths, but they are embarrassed to say I can’t read. I want that embarrassment to also cover mathematics,” Dr. Pinnock said.