Still concerned about the failing Mathematics grade in schools, the Ministry of Education has rolled out a National Mathematics Task force.

The new initiative and body seek to examine current performance trends across all school levels and craft a comprehensive, sustainable strategy to improve mathematics performance nationally, the Ministry of Education announced.

It was explained that the task force is made up of specialists from every region.

At a recent meeting of the task force, Minister of Education, Sonia Parag, reminded members of the that their mandate is to devise a plan that strengthens how mathematics is taught and grasped in schools.

She has asked the task force to examine teacher training and professional development, with a focus on balancing content knowledge with instructional delivery.

“You have teachers who have the knowledge, but they don’t know how to deliver; you have teachers who can deliver, but they don’t have the knowledge. So, we still have to align those things so that you have more teachers who have the knowledge and can also deliver in the classroom,” Minister Parag said.

Parag said it is clear that the Ministry of Education needs to improve the way teachers are being trained, emphasizing that there is a need for deeper student comprehension rather than memorization and test preparation alone.

“We need to rethink whether we’re teaching children to understand mathematics or teaching them to memorize just to pass an exam. It’s something very serious because if you prepare them to understand mathematics, then even if a curve ball is thrown, it’s not going to throw them off, and that is what we should be aiming for now,” Parag affirmed.

The meeting also heard that literacy must also be examined as it hinders performance in mathematics.

The Minister of Education announced that there will now be national literacy assessments in Grades Two and Four across the country, as there is an expectation that children must know to read and comprehend properly at least by Grade Four.

The Education Ministry said the meeting saw the discussion on a number of issues related to improving the math grade.

“Throughout the session, the educators discussed a number of recommendations, including the establishment of a rewards programme, a national mathematics competition, mathematics clubs across all schools, the implementation of standard weekly evaluations and the creation of ‘math walls’ for every classroom to outline formulas and theories. There were also suggestions for schools to host fun and interactive games that align with topics being covered”, the Education Ministry said.

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