Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said on Friday that several innovative initiatives have been introduced to tackle longstanding challenges and provide students with better opportunities for academic success.
She said while the matriculation rates are not where they should be, the ministry has never turned a blind eye to the matter and continues to work to address it.
“How do you change matriculation rates? You have to make sure children have schools and we’re building schools right now where schools never existed. In the hinterland particularly…secondary schools are being built,” the minister stated.
In fact, the education minister disclosed that the matriculation rate across the Caribbean dropped by seven per cent, and the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is implementing a plan that will take effect in September 2026.
The Math-Intervention Program was launched last year to address the challenge of underwhelming performance by students in mathematics locally.
This programme provides free comprehensive math lessons across various platforms including the Learning channel and other social media platforms.
The government has guaranteed undisturbed access to educational material to 92 per cent of hinterland communities by uploading these resources on media sites.
This initiative has been yielding positive results with notable improvements within this subject area.
Math monitors are also present in classrooms countrywide to ensure educators teach the syllabus accurately.
Additional measures introduced to enhance learning include the provision of Math and English textbooks to every student from grade one to 11. This is a project under the Ministry of Education’s textbook programme which received a budgetary allocation of some $2 billion to expand this initiative in 2025.
Other materials including calculators, geometry sets, graph books and past papers are also available to every fourth and fifth-form students.
The education minister also stated that parents are being engaged about their role in this initiative.
“It’s not going to be the Ministry of Education, the school, the Math teachers or the monitors alone, it’s going to be a partnership that we all have to partake in,” Minister Manickchand noted. She highlighted the issues that contributed to unfavourable matriculation rates including COVID-19 and the five-month strike by teachers that interrupted learning for many children. (Department of Public Information)
