Dear Editor,
The declining performance of students in the critical subject area Mathematics at the recent National Grade Six Assessment Examination is worrying. It is an indication that the several strategies and interventions put in place by the Education Ministry have failed to yield positive results.
I wish to respectfully suggest that the Ministry of Education engage the Caribbean Examinations Council in a consultancy to assist in strategies to overcome this performance deficit.
Despite an overall improvement in student performance over the years, Guyana still lags behind several other Caribbean countries in terms of student performance in key subject areas such as Mathematics and English.
The CXC is, in my view, best positioned to come up with a proper diagnostic understanding of the issues and challenges faced by Guyanese students in terms of performance, both at the national and regional levels. As a regional educational institution with a developed and well-resourced measurement, testing and evaluation unit, it could provide policy and technical recommendations to the Ministry of Education on the way forward if requested.
The slide in student performance especially in Mathematics and English must be arrested without delay. Failing to do so would put us as a nation at a competitive disadvantage in what is now regarded as the knowledge society.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
