In a move to correct the poor performance in CXC Mathematics and English, the National Centre for Research Development (NCERD) hosted a workshop, recently, for CXC English and Mathematics teachers in Region Six. The venue was the Berbice High School auditorium.The seminar was attended by some 50 teachers from secondary schools across the region.Berbice teachers at the maths, english workshopAt the workshop senior officers within the Ministry, both at the Central and Regional levels,NFL Jerseys From China, as well as officers attached to NCERD attended. Region Six Education Officer, Mrs Shafiran Bhajan, lauded the efforts of NCERD and their timely intervention.“Our results are exclusively clear; we are very concerned about our Region’s performance. We know today that English and Maths are pertinent subject areas”, she posited.Mrs Bhajan said that 50 per cent performance is needed in each of those subject areas in order for students to be considered for registering to write English and Maths.This, she stated, is affecting CXC registration at the government schools, hence, students must be fully equipped to be proficient in both core subject areas.A circular signed by the Chief Education Officer was recently dispatched to all public secondary schools. The circular states that teachers must consider the students’ performance in the two subject areas in the Grade 9 and 10 (3rd & 4th Form) levels and then make a decision with regards to recommending the students or not.Based on this criterion, many students have not been recommended to sit English A, B and Maths in 2011.Mrs Bhajan thanked NCERD for their intervention. “They [NCERD] will highlight where we [Region Six] are. After today, we will know exactly where we want to go”,NFL Jerseys China Wholesale, she said. Mrs Bhajan stated that the poor English and Mathematics results have negatively impacted the region.She noted that the disparity in input and output within the education sector, with special reference to Region Six. She said that $1.3B is put into the education sector, much of which goes to pay wages and salaries. She argued that there must be value for money spent.“The onus is on us to examine the shortcomings of the system so that we can improve”.Acting Chief Education Officer (Secondary) Doodmattie Singh, stated that Region Six was the first region chosen to have the workshop.She called on teachers present to reassess their methodologies. “There are things that you can change so you can better your results,” she said.She said that the Ministry’s efforts to curb illiteracy at the secondary level with the introduction of the transition six-year programme. She also expressed concern in the fact that the entry numbers of CXC students each year seem to be diminishing.Head of NCERD, Mohandatt Goolsarran, noted that many students write as many as 10 subjects at the CXC level but still do not qualify well in Maths and English.He said that the Ministry has reopened the offer to give free tuition to students who did not pass English and Maths at the last sitting. Those persons should take up the offer, he said.? He said that the free tuition will cost the Ministry of Education some $30M.Mr Goolsarran also urged teachers across the region to equip themselves with upgraded skills being offered in the two-year non-graduate Maths and English Distance Mode Programme.He noted that many teachers dropped out of the last batch. “Few persons did the course; 121 registered and just about 28 [in Region Six] wrote the final examination,” he stated. He told the gathering that the course has now become mandatory for all teachers who wish to head their respective English and Maths departments, and that those who have not begun the course would be asked to step down to give others who completed same, to step up. “The head teachers will re-activate the circular [about the Non- Graduate course] by the ACEO Secondary”.During the workshop, Mr Goolsarran stated that 40 per cent head teachers of secondary schools across Region Six,NFL Jerseys Cheap, received letters from the Ministry and NCERD stating that the results of the last CXC exams were very poor and that they are answerable to these results.Copies of the letters, he stated, would be sent to the various senior officers within the Ministry, and the Regional Executive Officers. “When it is time to answer for the [poor] results,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, there would be no excuse”, he said.He said that the head teachers of the poor performing schools must bear responsibility for the results.During the workshop,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, teachers worked samples of past CXC questions. Each school represented was given a booklet of past CXC Papers from 2000; se