MINISTER of Education Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon has welcomed assistance from the Council for Creative Education (CCE) to strengthen mathematics instruction in Jamaica.

The CCE is a pioneering research organisation based in Finland, committed to redefining education through creativity and innovation.

Addressing the opening of a three-day National Mathematics Workshop on Tuesday at The Mico University College, Dr Morris Dixon pointed out that Jamaica is experiencing a “crisis of mathematics”.

The workshop is being led by CCE Director Heramb Kulkarni, in collaboration with The Mico University College and the Phillip and Christine Gore Family Foundation.

Dr Morris Dixon noted that only 60 per cent of Jamaican students were proficient or highly proficient in the 2024 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination, and at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level, only 33.4 per cent of students received a passing grade in mathematics.

“I’m hoping that, through this, you will write to me and give me some solutions or policy-based solutions. Many of you are experimenting in really very interesting ways and you’re seeing results. We need to know about that,” said Dr Morris Dixon.

She encouraged the 60 teachers who will be benefiting from the workshop to share the knowledge with their colleagues.

In the meantime executive director of the Phillip and Christine Gore Family Foundation, Christine Gore told
JIS News that the foundation is committed to supporting every transformational opportunity that presents itself.

“Our main focus is really early childhood education because that is the most effective investment in education. But we can’t ignore the older children, and so we have become involved in scholarships to university, at-risk youth programmes and, more recently, remedial education,” said Gore.