MONTEGO BAY, St James — ­­Members of the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association (CCOBA) are hopeful that the Ministry of Education will approve a new mathematics programme they have tailored to improve student performance in the subject at their alma mater.

According to president of the CCOBA New York Chapter Barrington Harvey and CCOBA Chairman and Secretary Athol Chen, implementation of the plan is among highlights of this week’s series of activities. The events, which will end on today, were planned by New York alumni who are now visiting Jamaica.

“The meeting [with the Ministry of Education’s Region Four] is going to be instrumental. [It will see] all of us sitting down to discuss it to make sure we have a sound plan; and if there’s anything that needs to be amended, we can do so,” Chen told the Jamaica Observer.

Key stakeholders at the 129-year-old all-boys school have reportedly given their approval for the mathematics intervention plan. It was crafted by Chen, who holds degrees in journalism and law and has experience in teaching.

“There’s a problem — not just in Jamaica, but in the Caribbean — with math learning and math teaching. Our understanding is, here at Cornwall, that the boys are coming in from primary school underprepared. And so they have just a deficit, and they are failing in math and failing at alarming rates,” Chen said.

“We decided that we need to help as much as we can. We prepared a math intervention programme for the school and presented to the administration — which is the principal, the school board, the department heads, and a lot of the math teachers. We had a big meeting for that, and they all accepted the plan. They said the plan was terrific, and the next stage was now to get other stakeholders involved,” he added.

Chen said the plan has been heavily researched, and educators were consulted before coming up with a structure.

“The educators here think it’s a good framework, and will work here. So we are very optimistic. Again, there are similar programmes in the US,” he said.

Chen stressed that while the school’s disappointing performance in recent rankings was not the main driver for the project, it was a factor.

“It’s just normal [that] people talk about ranking. So we are trying to put it out there that… we just want to help the school get better, and with better improvement it should be reflected in the rankings,” he noted.

He has visions of the holistic plan, which will initially target grades seven to 10, being replicated in other schools across Jamaica that are facing similar issues as Cornwall College.

Harvey was quick to point out that the proposed plan will not impact the school curriculum.

“What the plan is trying to do is to create a framework and a structure that the school can use. It’s not a curriculum thing. No. It’s just an organisational thing,” he explained.

CCOBA’s week of activities kicked off on Monday with past students from the diaspora presenting a plaque and honorarium to three teachers, in addition to certificates to participants in the school’s debate, Schools’ Challenge and mathematics teams.

On Tuesday the group provided mentorship to a number of students, some of whom also filled out application forms for scholarships available from CCOBA.

Members of the New York Chapter of the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association (Horace Hines)

Cornwall College past student Jeffery McLeod leads a mentorship session with students at the school’s chapel on Tuesday. (Horace Hines)

Athol Chen (right), chairman and secretary of the New York Chapter of the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association, engages student Keeshan Brotherton and his aunt Yvonne Brotherton outside the school’s chapel on Tuesday. (Horace Hines)