THE education ministry says it has identified 65 of the country’s lowest performing schools in the Caribbean Examination Council’s exams for the first phase of its online tutorial project, which starts in September to help grade 10 and 11 students prepare for their mathematics and English Language exams.

At the same time, the ministry said its staff, including education officers and core curriculum officers, would be working in teams at each of the participating schools to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.

“The aim is to move the level of performance in these schools by five per cent. and certainly to move our ratings in the Caribbean from where it is to where it ought to be at number one or two,” Adelle Brown, acting chief education officer, told reporters yesterday at a press briefing at the ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston.

The online tutorials, announced by Education Minister Maxine Henry Wilson in May, is expected to cost government $3.5 billion over the next three years as it seeks to upgrade performance in 200 secondary schools.

“We have looked at those schools who have sent out large groups of students performing at the Grade Four (CXC) level. and we are also targetting schools that are entering less than less 20 students for the exam,” Brown said.

Approximately 15 master teachers will present their interactive tutorials on DVDs and other media for independent or collective use by the students and teachers.

Master teachers, principals and ministry staff are scheduled to meet within a few weeks to fine-tune the instructional videos.