Contest aims at generating interest in Mathematics

mathematicsPrimary and secondary school students across the island are preparing to participate in a contest aimed at generating interest in Mathematics.

The third annual National Mathematics Contest, or Math Power Contest, is set to begin on April 10th for primary schools while the elimination round for secondary schools will take place on May 1st.

Learning Support Advisor at the ministry of education, Clement Vital, told the launch of the contest on Wednesday that one of the main objectives is to stimulate the improvement of Mathematics education in Dominica.

“We recognize the need to improve our efforts at developing the numeracy skills of our students and we are confident that the Math Power competition will generate great interest in the subject,” she said. “The main objectives of the competition are to popularize mathematics amongst students in Dominica, to identify promising students and offer them opportunities for further development of their Mathematics talents.”

Clement Vital hopes the contest will improve Mathematics skills in students
Clement Vital hopes the contest will improve Mathematics skills in students

He added that the competition will also encourage students to pursue careers in Mathematics.

Education Minister Peter Saint Jean told the launch that he is proud of the initiative, noting that an improvement has been recorded in students’ performance in Mathematics on the island.

“The Math Power Contest is a clear indication that my ministry continues to focus on improving Mathematics performance among all our students,” he stated. “We have been very upfront about the fact that one of the most critical concerns in examination performance relates to the low scores registered in Mathematics, both internal and external examinations.”

Saint Jean noted that there has been improvement in Mathematics at both the National Assesment and the Caribbean Examination Council Examinations in 2013.

“At the CXC level we moved from an overall percentage pass rate of 28 percent in 2012 to 37 percent in 2013,” he said. “At the Grade Two National Assessments, we moved from a pass rate of 42.48 percent in 2012 to 47.5 percent in 2013 and at the Grade Four National Assessment, we moved from a pass rate of 44.18 percent in 2012 to 48.1 percent in 2013. While this indicates that we have registered some success as a Ministry, we remain cognizant that there is much more work to be done.”

Chief Education Officer, Melena Fontaine, told the launch there is a need to rethink Mathematics strategies in Dominica.

“Over the years numerous sources of data have been showing us that we need to rethink our strategies of Mathematics education if we want to produce citizens with the basic math skills that will help them to survive on their own and for all those who can, to engage in Mathematics at a higher level and thus succeed in that arena,” she said.

The competition is divided into three categories namely; upper primary- grades 4 to 6, lower secondary- forms 1-2 and upper secondary forms 3-4.

For each category two students will be chosen as a team to represent their school.

There are two rounds to the competition. The first round is called the ‘speed and accuracy round’ where students will be given a series of Mathematics questions in which they have to work them out mentally within 15 seconds. Then there will be the ‘problem solving round’.

Sixty-four students from sixteen primary and sixteen secondary schools are expected to compete.

The contest is being sponsored by the National Bank of Dominica.

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13 Comments

  1. sdcg
    March 13, 2014

    great for engineering ,dominica needs all kind of engineers.maths and science will take this country into inventions and having more patents also very good for research and development of better products.especially in agroprocessing.many of our people will coment on ajamaican music star but show very little intrest in highly important programs that patriotic Dominicans are doing to make their country less dependent on foreign aid.i am thanking those visionaries for their great effort.

  2. hmmm
    March 13, 2014

    Great …parents please encourage your children to read as poor reading skills directly affects their ability to do problem solving.

  3. March 13, 2014

    I would have loved that. Children are getting so many opportunities today. Please embrace them.

  4. BRAIN DAMAGE
    March 13, 2014

    Where there are competitions, prizes are followed.
    What’s the prize for motivation.

  5. Claire
    March 12, 2014

    This is not going to help generate interest in Math or improve math scores. The schools will still send their strongest Math students who are already interested.

    • Rainbow
      March 13, 2014

      YOU KNOW I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT? That is so true. The teachers should have the contest for better teaching strategies. They are the ones causing poor mathematics results.

      • keturah
        March 13, 2014

        Stupid comment! Teachers causing poor math results? well if u know so much about math and teaching strategies for math, please educate us. or better yet, come and take our place. This is the very attitude many parents instill in their children that we teachers have to spoon feed their kids, MAKE them pass as if we are miracle workers. Dont blame us. the fact is, the students that pass are usually the disciplined ones, and discipline starts at home. that is whats missing. DISCIPLINE and DETERMINATION.

      • Anonymous
        March 14, 2014

        Don’t blame anyone, please. Don’t generalize, most teachers try their best.

      • I just come
        March 15, 2014

        Hey hey hey, its not a blame. Teachers cannot give what they dont have. Many of us teachers, dont know how to teach maths. some of us dont even like the subject so we make a mess and students pay for it. It is time we look at ourselves as teachers and stop blaming everyone but ourselves.

  6. observer
    March 12, 2014

    Good initiative

  7. de ears
    March 12, 2014

    I would like to know how this can improve mathematics. only those students that are already good will be used in the contest. How will this enhance the skill of the weak students.

  8. Get this !
    March 12, 2014

    Awesome!

    • Anonymous
      March 13, 2014

      I was part of the first ever math completion…got grade 1 …plz continue sukch a great initiative

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