New secondary students to get calculators

Government will spend $60,000 to arm new secondary school students with scientific calculators, as efforts continue to stem the rise in unsatisfactory performances in Mathematics.{{more}}

At a Ministry of Education press briefing on Tuesday, September 4, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves noted a difficulty in the education system with Mathematics and English, and said, while strides are being made in the area of English, work still needs to be done to deal with the problem in Mathematics

The Prime Minister announced the calculator plan, saying that access to calculators early in a student’s life is expected to help them grasp and develop a love for mathematics.

Some 2500 first form students will receive the solar powered, Casio calculators, this term.

Dr Gonsalves said that the more traditional view was that the use of calculators from such a young age would dull the skills of the students to grasp mathematical concepts.

He, however, noted that it was his view, one shared by Senior Education Officer Marcus Caine, that “taught properly, the calculator can actually be a learning tool to assist in the understanding and appreciation of these concepts and to get a love for it from the beginning.” (KJ).