Minister of Education Dr. Michael Dowlath has expressed concern regarding students’ underperformance in mathematics at both the primary and secondary school levels.
Speaking at the Prize Giving Ceremony of the 28th Annual Mental Mathematics Marathon—a competition aimed at enhancing numeracy among primary school students—Dr. Dowlath highlighted troubling statistics and called for urgent educational reforms.
“Just under 50% of our students at CXC passed mathematics also. So as the Minister of Education, I am very concerned about how our students are acquiring their skills in mathematics because mathematics, your knowledge in mathematics, affects every other curriculum area. Maths, as I describe it, is like the language of logic.”
Dr. Dowlath underscored the broader importance of mathematics in developing students’ critical thinking and decision-making skills.
“So mathematics, mental maths, together with all the other curriculum areas, allow us to produce rational human beings who will make more informed decisions about their own future because we’re developing these young people to become autonomous in decision-making. They will make their own decisions as they go through life, but it’s based on rationality, and it will enhance the democracy of this country.”
In light of the competition’s success, the Minister urged the Curriculum Division to incorporate similar strategies into the national education system.
Karen Mitchell, Acting Curriculum Coordinator at the Ministry of Education, noted that the Mental Mathematics Marathon embraced modern technologies to enhance the assessment process.
“The students’ scripts from the semifinal round and the final round were marked using artificial intelligence, or AI. At the final round of the competition, students responded to questions using both paper and pencil and, for the first time, tablet devices. The scripts, as well as the responses submitted by our tablets, were marked using AI, and all data obtained were analysed using AI technologies.”
As one of the sponsors, Chief Executive Officer of the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), Kent Western, affirmed the focus of the company in championing transformation.
“Digital resilience and national resilience forms part of what we must do. That’s why we are involved and we have evolved. TSTT is now more than a telecom company. You don’t even think about telecom when you think about TSTT; you think about doing things that are important to you. We’re a full tech company; we’re not just focused on connections; we are focused on transformation, and here I see transformation.”