Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says a raft of strategies, including the establishment of a Math Consortium, will be rolled out this academic year in a bid to address the declining performance in the subject area at secondary schools.

Speaking at a back-to-school press conference at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston on August 31, Senator Reid said the first meeting of the group will be held on Friday, September 2.

The Consortium will be made up of Mathematics experts and specialists who will provide support to schools in the teaching of the subject.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left) and State Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, addressing a recent press conference.

“We will work with all critical stakeholders to see if we can collectively deal with this problem,” he said.

The Consortium will closely analyse the data and make recommendations for implementation. “We have also taken note of the exit of some of our teachers and are examining this phenomenon as well,” he said.

Jamaica recorded a decline in the 2016 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics results.

Mr. Reid said the Ministry will monitor the performance of students moving to grades 10 and 11 in a bid to develop more targeted interventions across each school.

“We will be working with the schools so that we don’t wait until results come out again and then we wonder why they have dipped. We are going to make sure we are very proactive in that regard,” he said.

Mr. Reid said the strategies will also focus on the intensive preparation of students for examinations.

The 2016/17 academic year begins on Monday, September 5.

Source: Jamaica Information Service