Word to Graduating Math Teachers: Roll up your sleeves and Get to work

Educators in St Vincent and the Grenadines are being urged to do away with the approach of having students just blindly follow instructions in the teaching of mathematics concepts.

This was the advice shared with 34 recent graduates of the Advancing Caribbean Teachers (ACT) in mathematics programme which was hosted by the Commonwealth of Learning at The UWI Open Campus SVG. The programme, which was also duplicated in St Kitts ans Saint Lucia, focused on improving student performance by building on Mathematics teaching capacity.

Commenting on the poor Mathematics performance of Vincentian students at the regional testing level, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Myccle Burke said it is clear that students have challenges with complex problem solving concepts.

“When we consider a regional average of about 35 percent, and a local average between 27 and 29 percent, when we consider as well that over the last ten years, the only time that we were able to achieve over 50 percent passes is when we had modified examinations-we had one paper. So it says that our students are somehow in CPEA mode, that they are good at multiple choice but the longer questions, the more complex questions presents a challenge.”

Minister of Education, Curtis King, echoed similar sentiments in his remarks at the graduation ceremony, noting that St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and the wider Caribbean has consistently had poor performance in Mathematics.

“Since CXC started administering exams in 1979, to this present date, you can count on one hand the number of times St Vincent and the Grenadines’ students exceeded 50 percent in Mathematics and it is not better in the rest of the region.”

Mathematics In-Country Coordinator, Nicole Franklyn told the graduates at the June, 30, 2025 ceremony that they have been equipped with the necessary tools, and much will be expected of them.

“You have come to this programme, you have seen a lot; now we expect you to do a lot.

Your practice requires taking action. You have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. We want to see real life application of planning student engagement. No more ‘watch me do it and do it like how I do it’ or ‘where you get that from?’ We don’t want any more of that.”

Franklyn urged the programme participants to instruct students in a way that they can “discover” and understand the concepts being taught.

“We want our students to discover, we want hands-on exploration, we want rich tasks that involve problem solving. This is what we want your practice to be like,” she stressed.

Franklyn encouraged teachers to employ a range of approaches which will incorporate all levels of learners in the classroom.

“We are going to work with all of our students. It is all about adjusting and adapting to help every child.”

The regional mathematics initiative was launched in January of this year and was rolled out in three phases, led by Dominican mathematics expert and Senior Lecturer at The UWI, Mona Campus, Dr Lois George.