THE University of the West Indies, Mona, which partnered recently with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the training of mathematics teachers islandwide, is hoping that the sessions will lead to better results come 2026.

Jamaica’s pass rate for mathematics for the May/June 2025 sitting of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations was 44 per cent, five percentage points higher than the 39 per cent in 2024.

But the UWI/UNICEF initiate — EM² Empowerment through Mathematics and Mentorship — is aimed at building a more inclusive and gender-equitable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education system.

This is to be achieved by providing intensive, evidence-based interventions for mathematics teachers, through islandwide bespoke workshops with supporting resources that strengthen both content knowledge and instructional craft; expanding The UWI’s ‘Walking in Her Footsteps STEM Mentorship Programme’ into a national programme; and empowering students with disabilities and staging the inaugural Special Mathematics Olympiad for students.

The workshops were also designed to strengthen mathematics instruction and student performance in response to the 2024 CSEC results.

According to Dr Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot, project lead for EM² and senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, UWI Mona, “Mathematics is the indispensable language of development; its rigorous metrics and models quantify progress, guide evidence-based policy-making, and equip us to tackle complex challenges from eradicating poverty to building climate resilience.

“Improving mathematics education isn’t just about better grades, it’s about laying the foundation for all sciences as well as for innovation, economic growth, and national development. By investing in our teachers, we multiply the impact and build a more confident, competent generation of students.”

Dr Singh-Wilmot, and The UWI’s Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Science and Technology, with support from UNICEF, and in partnership with the Ministry of Education, led the charge to address the critical gap, through the hosting of a series of in-person workshops that strategically addressed six topics CSEC data has noted Jamaican students find to be the most challenging — trigonometry, transformations, vectors, circle geometry, functions, and matrices.

The sessions provided teachers with practical, high-quality resources, including specially designed booklets and access to digitised lesson content for continued learning.

The initiative also emphasised sustainability and collaboration through the establishment of school-based Mathematics Communities of Practice (COPs), led by those teachers trained in person, and guided by resource personnel from the Mathematics Department at The UWI.

These groups will support ongoing professional development in and across schools, foster mentorship among teachers, and encourage the sharing of successful strategies across schools and parishes.

“The CSEC results mirror the findings of UNICEF’s 2022 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which revealed that only 30 per cent of adolescents aged 15–17 in Jamaica demonstrated minimum proficiency in numeracy [which is] well below regional benchmarks.

“This isn’t just an academic challenge; it reflects deeper systemic issues, including gaps in teacher training and access to effective resources,” said Mohammad Mohiuddin, UNICEF Jamaica deputy representative, speaking at the launch held during the first workshop in St Mary.

“That’s why this partnership was created and why UNICEF is proud to support the EM² initiative. Together, we can ensure that every student, regardless of socio-economic status or gender, has the chance to thrive in mathematics and, by extension, in the broader fields of STEM,” added Mohiuddin.

At the end of the first workshop Dr Sam McDaniel, lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and one of the architects of the mathematics intervention, said: “This workshop is a perfect example that not all endeavours are zero sum. It was an absolute win for all teachers and instructors. All left feeling empowered.”

In-person workshops were rolled out across Jamaica across all of the education ministry’s regions in Clarendon, July 28 to 30; St James, August 11 to 13; and Kingston August 18 to 20.

“I am truly grateful for the unwavering commitment of educators who are deeply invested in advancing the teaching and learning process in a positive and impactful direction. This strategic partnership among UWI, UNICEF, the Jamaica Teaching Council, and the Ministry [of Education] holds immense potential to bring about meaningful improvements in mathematics education and will undoubtedly benefit all stakeholders involved,” said Dr Lorna Thompson, senior education officer/ national mathematics lead, Ministry of Education.

Strategic collaboration with the Jamaica Teaching Council resulted in programme approval, allowing teachers to count the professional credits earned on completion toward their appraisal.

EM² was funded by UNICEF Jamaica and aligned with “the organisation’s commitment to ensuring every child has equitable access to quality learning”, said UNICEF education specialist, Dr Rebecca Tortello.

“It marks yet another intervention focused on empowering teachers to help fulfil this core right, by giving them the skills, confidence, and community they need to transform their classrooms to be more interactive and student-centred,” added Dr Tortello.