Jamaica's Math disability a big development barrier

[Don1]

Ministry unveils new math policy
Sunday, September 23, 2012




STUNG by criticism that it has not been doing enough to address students' dismal performance in math, the education ministry has unveiled a new policy designed to improve the results in national and regional examinations.

The policy document, which ministry officials shared with the Jamaica Observer last week, is intended to promote better teaching of mathematics at both the primary and secondary levels. It also takes into account the need to place greater emphasis on the subject at early childhood institutions and in teacher training colleges.

The announcement comes weeks after the country was told that average performance in mathematics in this year's Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination declined from 33.2 per cent to 31.7 per cent.

Closer examination of the CSEC data for the last 10 years reveals an even more frightening picture, as more than 70 per cent of eleventh graders, in any given year, leave high school without even sitting the mathematics examination.

While performance in the regional exam has been a long-standing problem, the averages at the national level, particularly in the Grade Four Numeracy Test, provide little consolation.

A look at performance figures for last year reveals that only 43 per cent of the grade four students achieved mastery, an increase over the 34 per cent in 2010, but way below the ministry's target of 85 per cent by 2015.
For officials of the Education Ministry, the country must improve in mathematics to safeguard its own survival.

"The implications to the nation of consistently poor performance in mathematics are far-reaching and significant. Not only is it important that Jamaica produces good mathematicians in order that they may fit key roles in society, but it is also vital that persons who emerge from the school system — at whatever level — are equipped with basic numeracy skills in order that they may be empowered to participate equitably, effectively and efficiently in the wider society," reads a section of the National Numeracy and Mathematics Policy.

The document also raises serious questions about the country's ability to effectively participate in the global environment. "As Jamaica strives to take its place within a fiercely competitive and highly globalised marketplace, the workforce will need to be equipped with reasoning, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

Experiences provided in the mathematics classroom should be geared toward the development of these skills, which are critical to an in-depth understanding of other subject areas and to improving our nation's performance in industry and commerce," the document continued.
It is understood that the new policy is the product of consultations with several organisations, both in the public and private sector, and with stakeholders in the education system.

Speaking with the Sunday Observer, National Mathematics Coordinator in the Ministry of Education Dr Tamika Benjamin emphasised that the new policy seeks to establish standards for all levels of the system.

"Critically, it speaks to standards for teacher education, because currently there are no standard in Jamaica; and so it goes into things such as minimum matriculation requirements for entry into teacher education programmes. It speaks to what the programmes should look like, and ensures that adequate effort is made to build the content knowledge of the student teacher, as well as how they should teach the subject," she said.

Benjamin explained that persons desirous of becoming mathematics teachers will be required to sit a diagnostic test before being accepted into the programmes at local teacher training colleges. Among other things, the policy proposes that teachers of mathematics at the early childhood to secondary level must have at least a bachelor's degree, with specialisation in mathematics.

The math coordinator added that the new policy will correct circumstances, particularly at the primary level, where some teachers, as a result of their own weaknesses, opt to reduce the amount of time devoted to mathematics, turning instead to subjects with which they are more comfortable.

"It speaks to clear guidelines for who should be teaching at what level of the system. It speaks to standards for contact hours, as we have found variations, and a significant part of it speaks to how the subject should be taught," said the math educator, as she indicated that some elements of the policy, relating to in-sevice professional development, are already being introduced.

While not speaking to the additional costs that will result from the implementation of the policy proposals, she asserted that Education Minister Ronald Thwaites has already committed to providing the resources needed to address the problems that have been identified.

She added that over the next two months, officials of the ministry will be travelling islandwide to make public presentations on the new policy.
The first in the series of consultations which target parents, private sector representatives, teachers, students, and other individuals takes place at the Montego Bay Community College on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.

"Following the consultations, there will be a review and then external consultants will be brought in to fine-tune the document. The minister will then present a related ministry paper," Benjamin explained.


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz27IC32oK1

[Muadib]

dem need tuh get dem priorities right.. di Patois Bible finish yet ???

[World Fan]

Houston, we have a problem

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/gunme...r-in-clarendon

Gunmen attack JDF soldier in Clarendon

2:00 pm, Sun September 23, 2012

Another member of the security forces has been attacked by gunmen, this time in the parish of Clarendon.
It’s reported that shortly after 11 pm a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier was attacked at his home in Green Bottom, near Sandy Bay in the parish.

Residents say they heard explosions and later found that the soldier - whose name has not been released - had been shot all over his body.
He was airlifted to a corporate area hospital where he remains in serious but stable condition.

This is the second such attack against a member of the security forces within three days.
Last Thursday, Corporal Warren Campbell was shot dead by gunmen in Patrick City St Andrew.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...S-drought.html

World on track for record food prices 'within a year' due to US drought
Brace yourself for some painful "agflation". That is the shorthand for agricultural commodity inflation, otherwise known as rising food prices.
Brace yourself for some painful
Rabobank thinks the consumer impact could be less painful this time around compared to 2008, when there were severe shortages of wheat and rice. That is because today's shortages are being seen more in crops used as animal feed, such as corn and soybeans. Photo: Reuters
Emma Rowley

By Emma Rowley, and Garry White

5:34PM BST 23 Sep 2012

Comments27 Comments

They are being driven upwards by the climb in grain and oilseed prices as US crops weather the country's worst drought since 1936, while the farming belts of Russia and South America suffer through similar water shortages.

What we are seeing represents the third major rally in global grain and oilseed prices in just half a decade.

Worse is to come, new research warns. World food prices look set to hit an all-time high in the first quarter of next year – and then keep rising, according to the analysis from Rabobank, a specialist in agricultural commodities.

By June 2013, the basket of food prices tracked by the United Nations could climb 15pc from current levels, according to the bank's analysts.

"The coming year will see the world economy re-enter a period of agflation as grain and oilseed stocks decline to critically low levels, pushing the FAO [Food and Agricultural Organisation] Food Price Index above record nominal highs set in February 2011," they say.

The index offers a useful proxy for the prices paid by world consumers for food, they note – indicating how agricultural commodity price movements are likely to translate into prices of shop shelves.

For policy-makers, the pick up in food inflation signals problems, as high food prices tend to magnify social unrest.

"Politics and economics are inextricably linked as exemplified by the Arab Spring, which was preceded by a rise in food prices," note Hermes fund managers in a recent report.

But no crisis looks quite the same as the last. Rabobank thinks the consumer impact could be less painful this time around compared to 2008, when there were severe shortages of wheat and rice.

That is because today's shortages are being seen more in crops used as animal feed, such as corn and soybeans.

In contrast, back in 2008 falling wheat stocks and various bans on rice exports capped the amount of grains available for direct consumption by people.

Today, prices for staple grains such as rice and wheat are currently 30pc below their 2008 peaks.

So while the pressure on feedstock supplies pushes up meat prices, consumers feeling the squeeze should be able to switch from animal protein towards staple grains.

Food prices are also rising in a very different global economic environment, with Chinese demand slowing and the debt problems of the West weighing on world growth. That lessens wider price pressures in the system.

However the risks remain, as states try to appease citizens feeling the squeeze.

As in 2008, government stockpiling, trade restrictions and other forms of intervention remain a significant threat, says Rabobank. But it warns a pick-up in government intervention will prove counterproductive at an international level, as states engage in a "vicious cycle" of protectionist policies, aggravating the food price environment.

More specifically, the scarcity of feed crops is expected to have major repercussions for the meat and dairy industries, as the increase in the costs of feed stocks raises the prices faced by consumers and hits profit margins.

In the shorter term, higher slaughter rates as producers respond to rising feed costs should temporarily increase the meat supply. But the ultimate result is expected be smaller animal herd sizes, which will reduce meat and dairy production and ramp up prices.

The British public, which consumes high levels of meat and dairy products, will definitely feel the impact of this latest bout of agflation, says Rabobank. Nick Higgins, one of the report's authors, says UK food prices "are going to rise in the coming year significantly."

Still, while consumers in developing countries show "elasticity" of demand as prices move, people in the UK tend not to change their consumption patterns in response to prices, he notes.

In other words, even if meat gets more expensive, they will keep buying.
Copper market in deficit

The World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) published its monthly supply and demand statistics for the metal markets last week – and the copper market is firmly in deficit.

In the first seven months of the year, supply rose 2.4pc, but demand was up by 6.7pc.

Analysts at Macquarie Bank think that consumption could rise next year, as China increases spending on infrastructure projects to stimulate its economy. "Copper consumption in China is highly leveraged to infrastructure spend," Macquarie says. The Australian bank estimated that 42pc of all copper demand in the Asian country is on infrastructure projects.
Threat to bacon supplies as pig farmers reel from rising feed costs

Soaring grains costs are rippling through the global food chain – and the high cost of feedstock is likely to lead to a shortage of bacon.

"New data shows the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world," according to the UK's National Pig Association (NPA). "Pig farmers have been plunged into loss by high pig-feed costs, caused by the global failure of maize and soya harvests."

Earlier this month Genus, the FTSE 250 company that provides pigs and cows with superior genetics to farmers worldwide, warned that rising feed costs impact "a number of customers" in the year ahead.

"British supermarkets know they have to raise the price they pay Britain's pig farmers or risk empty spaces on their shelves next year," Richard Longthorp, NPA chairman, said. "But competition is so fierce in the high street at present, each is waiting for the other to move first."

Farmers worldwide have responded by sending their pigs to slaughter earlier than usual to save money - and fewer pigs are expected next year should prices remain high.

However, some respite may be ahead, after the price of grains fell last week the most they have in the last three months. Soybeans fell the most in almost a year.