Education Ministry Hosts Seminar to Improve Teaching of Mathematics

The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with LMH Publishing and Marshall Cavendish Education, will be hosting a two-day seminar to introduce Singaporean best practices in the teaching and learning of Mathematics to local educators and policymakers.

The seminar, themed – the Singapore Method of Teaching and Learning Mathematics – will be held on July 13 and 14 at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston and will feature presentations from key Singaporean Mathematics educators and stakeholders.

Singapore is the acknowledged world leader in Mathematics and the Singapore Method of Teaching Mathematics is used in over 50 countries, including the United States and Britain.

This year, Singapore again topped the biggest global school rankings published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The analysis is based on test scores in Mathematics and Science in 76 countries.

National Mathematics Co-ordinator at the Ministry of Education, Dr. Tamika Benjamin, in a presentation at a press briefing at the Ministry’s head office on July 7, said the seminar is significant, given Jamaica’s struggle to improve student performance in the subject.

She noted that Mathematics play a significant role in opening doors for persons to access jobs in the emerging job market.

Data suggests that persons with higher levels of mathematical competencies can earn up to 40 per cent more than someone who is not competent in the subject area.

“As a result, the Ministry of Education, over the last three to five years, has been investing increased time, effort, monetary resources and human resources in addressing some of the significant deficit we recognize in the system,” she said.

Dr. Benjamin added that the Ministry is placing particular emphasis on improving the capacity of primary and secondary level teachers, as well as on the teacher education programme.

She said  the seminar will be significant in bringing about change, as many key persons in the field will be exposed to best practices.

The seminar will feature discussion on the Singapore Education Landscape in 2020, Math instruction and its role in developing problem-solving and visualization skills, challenges faced in Singapore in enacting the primary Math curriculum, as well as the use of assessment to differentiate instruction.

In a presentation to the House of Representatives in June,  Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, revealed that student performance in Mathematics at the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) level had gone down by 3.7 per cent in this year’s sitting. Meanwhile, the grade-four cohort continues to fall below par, with 58 per cent mastery in numeracy based on the 2014 Grade Four Numeracy Test.

Some 150 persons, inclusive of principals, Mathematics teachers and heads of departments and Ministry specialists, are expected to take part in the seminar. The invitees will be informed of the structure of the Singapore Method of Teaching as developed by the Singapore Ministry of Education, using material published by Singapore publishing company, Marshall Canvendish Education (MCE).

LMH Publishing has formed a partnership with MCE, which provides over 80 per cent of the Mathematics books and material approved by the Singapore government for use in its education system, to be its representative and distributor in Jamaica.

The seminar is supported by the Development Bank of Jamaica, as well as by a number of corporate sponsors.