Alternatives to teaching Math introduced to Bartica teachers

By Alden Marslowe

DPI, Guyana, Friday, June 28, 2019

Five hundred (500) Grade Six teachers attached to various hinterland and riverain communities recently benefitted from a training exercise aimed at boosting the teaching of Mathematics in Primary Schools.

During the training session, the educators were provided with mathematics kits and taught how to effectively use the items contained within. These included fraction and decimal tiles, geo-boards, number line and modeling tiles, which will be manipulated by pupils and teachers to help develop problem-solving competence in all of the Seven Standards of Primary Mathematics.

The Ministry of Education, through the office of the Assistant Chief Education Officer (Primary), Carol Benn handed over 400 of these Mathematics kits, to the Education Department of Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region 7. Receiving on behalf of the department, Regional Education Officer, Akbar Chindu expressed gratitude and noted that the mandate now rests with the department and its primary schools to ensure that teachers use the kits for the purpose which they are intended.

Benn also spearheaded the teachers’ training sessions, which were conducted by Vishnu Panday, a Mathematics specialist attached to NCERD.

Several Mathematics monitors from the region will also be trained so as to ensure that the manipulatives are used correctly by both teachers and pupils.

This initiative to introduce alternative methods of teaching will target hinterland and riverain schools where statistics show Mathematics competence is lower as compared to schools on the coastland.