Mathematics and English are two of the main subjects that are required for matriculation. However, while the local performance at English A at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), for instance, has remained fairly laudable the performance in Mathematics has remained worrisome.
In English A, there was an increase in the performance in Guyana, reflected by 67 percent in 2018 and 77 percent this year. However, despite the intensified efforts of the public education system aimed at boosting the results, the overall percentage pass rate at CSEC Maths for 2018 and 2019 is 43 percent.
But even as the government recognises this dilemma and hopes to continue efforts to reverse the trend, it is faced with the challenge of the lack of Mathematic specialist teachers. This has been highlighted in the government’s mid-year report, which outlines that this issue transcends across the grades.
“With regard to Mathematics, which underpins basic logic and reasoning skills, there are currently just 35 Mathematics Specialist/Master trainers at the secondary level who offer support to teachers at this level [and] there are no Specialist Mathematics teachers at the primary level,” the report detailed. It went on to add that despite efforts to increase spending in the education sector and growing the number of trained teachers, mixed results still prevail.
Moreover, the government has taken keen note of the fact that there is an urgent need to address the deficit of specialist teachers in Mathematics, and other subject areas too, in order to rise above the protracted daunting performance rate.
