A collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation and Conquer Maths Caribbean is expected to lead to better results in the area of Mathematics, across schools.
This was intimated yesterday as Deputy Chief Education Officer, Karen Best, addressed a one-day workshop held for over 20 primary school teachers at Illuminat Barbados Ltd., Whitepark Road, St. Michael.
Ms. Best pointed out that the Ministry continued to place emphasis on improving the quality and relevance of primary and secondary education, particularly in the area of Mathematics and said: ???In order to achieve this objective, the Ministry will be collaborating with Conquer Maths Caribbean to pilot the Conquer Maths Application in six secondary and six primary schools.???
The pilot programme, which she noted would run for two terms, is expected to commence at the start of the first term of academic year 2013-2014 and conclude by the end of the following term.
Teachers were told that the workshop would provide ???hands on experience needed to effectively use the software,??? and Mrs. Best stressed that ???by the end of the training, participants would have gained insight into the software and learnt how to effectively integrate it into your school???s curriculum???.
It was pointed out that such collaborations were timely and showed there were people and institutions out there with a vested interest in the development of a quality education system in Barbados and an education system that was cutting edge.??
???Technological advancements in teaching enhance a country???s ability to be more competitive so that it may compete in the global market place. If every single organisation in this country paid critical attention to the issue of education and its relationship to productivity, Barbados would enhance its competitiveness considerably. One important route to this goal is for Barbados to continue the development of its human capital,??? Mrs. Best maintained.??
Conquer Maths Caribbean started here in late 2010 with the aim of enabling students across the island to improve performance in Maths and thus reverse the failure rate currently being seen with the Barbados Secondary Schools??? Entrance Examination and CXC.??
The programme also aims to assist students in their summer vacation and parents are urged to visit multimedialearners.com for further information and to ensure their children are given an early start to prepare for the next school year.
joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb