By Petrina Francis, Education ReporterIN A bid to improve the performance of students in the mathematics examinations, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) on Wednesday an-nounced a new mathematics intervention programme, which is currently being piloted in six schools in Kingston.
Peter Lawson, chairman of the NCB Foundation, said that the programme which is expected to cost the bank about $6 million would last for three years and has two distinct phases. The diagnosis, remediation and consolidation phase is at the grades 10 and 11 levels, while from grades 7 through grade 9 the focus will be on developmental work. Mr. Lawson was speaking on Wednesday at a press conference hosted by the NCB Jamaica Education Initiative at the bank's Trafalgar Road offices in St. Andrew.
PILOT SCHOOLS
The mathematics education programme will be piloted at Gaynstead High School, Jamaica College, Meadowbrook, Mona High, St. George's College and St. Hugh's High School.
"The three-year project is intended to have certain outputs (and) will help us to better understand the model of teaching which is effective in learning mathematics, the type of learning practices that we can take away and replicate across the full education system, and more than anything we want to have a prototype which allows us to make this something which can be long-lasting and we can continue to build on," said Mr. Lawson.
Mr. Lawson noted that the output from this pilot would be used across the full range of schools in Jamaica.
Educators Radley Reid, Terry Tomlinson and Lola McKinley are spearheading the programme.
GOOD INVESTMENT
"I know that this latest an-nouncement will provide us with some more evidence of what we need to do to make our children ready," said Maxine Henry-Wilson, minister of education.
She told The Gleaner that the mathematics intervention programme is different from the programme that the ministry is currently piloting in 62 schools across Jamaica to boost the performance of students in mathematics and English language.
The NCB programme is focused on the school's methodological level by trying to get the whole approach to mathematics changed in schools, how the teachers teach, how they present the subjects and how the children are measured, the minister noted.
