Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
THE EXTRA lessons mathematics industry in Jamaica is reaping millions of dollars each year as anxious parents scramble to find money to ensure their children get a passing grade in the regional examination.
Eddison Leighton, managing director of Maths Unlimited in Kingston, told The Sunday Gleaner that extra lessons for high school students "could run into more than a $1 billion across Jamaica if you use all the different schools."
While 'extra lessons' in general is a huge industry, Mr. Leighton said that mathematics is the biggest part of the business because "it is a foundation subject for everybody". Plus, "Mathematics happens to be one of the areas where we have a low pass rate," he explained.
Over the years, Jamaican students have been performing poorly at this subject. The national pass rate for Mathematics in the 2004 Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) was 25 per cent, 15 per cent below the regional average of 40 per cent.
Mr. Leighton explained that "Mathematics is a building block subject and if you don't have the foundation you are not going anywhere."
A GENERAL CONCERN
Wayne Robinson, principal of Quality Academics, agreed with Mr. Leighton that mathematics "is a big industry". He noted that mathematics is a general concern and that the formal education system has failed in the delivery of the subject because, at the primary level, students are only taught to pass exams.
"When it changes (at the secondary level) they cannot relate and that is the problem with the formal education system," he said. "The difficulty is with the teaching of mathematical concepts so they relate to everyday life and so students can use their mathematical knowledge in their day-to-day experience."
While unable to give the number of private institutions that offer mathematics, Mr. Robinson said that almost all institutions in Kingston offer the subject because it is the biggest because it is the biggest money earner.
Mr. Leighton said many of the teachers who teach mathematics for private institutions also teach for public schools. However, he noted that the programme at private schools is designed for success and hence there is a system of accountability and better management.
He added that there is a rigorous system of checks and balances in place and there is a performance evaluation system "where teachers understand that their responsibility has to do with how they perform."
Mr. Robinson concurred: "Our staff has to be paid by performance. We don't share the view that teachers are not supposed to be paid by performance". He said that this is the foundation of private sector or "we won't have any business."
However, Wentworth Gabbidon, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) told The Sunday Gleaner that the JTA is totally against payment by performance.
"We don't believe in payment by performance, set a reasonable pay and if they are not performing get rid of them," he said.
He added that if teachers were to be paid by performance, they would only be teaching to get results.
"I wouldn't leave the success of my child to the public school system. The record of some of these (private) organisations seem better than that of the public school system and I am willing to trust them to educate my child," said Donna Wilson, a mother of a 13-year-old.
Although her son will not sit the CXC exams for another two years, she has already started sending him to extra mathematics lessons. Mrs. Wilson noted that the prominent high school her son attends "is not equipped to provide him with what he needs to do well in the regional sitting of the CXC mathematics."
While acknowledging that there are still good teachers out there, Mr. Leighton noted that there is clearly something wrong with the way in which the subject is delivered in public schools.
"Not only the method but also the person who is teaching. I believe you need to focus on getting excellent teachers who are excellent practitioners. Until you get those people in the system, I don't see how it will work," he said.
