CSEC mathematics: Give credit where credit is due

Tue, Oct 23, 2012

Editor: Well, the CSEC results have been released by the Ministry of Education for the 26 secondary schools in our country and the statistics were published on pages 20-21 in the October 12th issue of the Searchlight newspaper.{{more}}

I wish to make my comments on CSEC math results (2012), because my name has been dragged into the ongoing debate, especially on talk radio. The results show that there were just FOUR (4) math passes in the CSEC May 2012 exams in FIVE (5) Secondary Schools located in the north east of the country, namely Sandy Bay, Georgetown, Colonarie, North Union and Adelphi Secondary Schools. Three of these schools recorded NO PASSES in mathematics this year. In comparison, I have been teaching mathematics at the Langley Park evening classes for at least 12 years and this year there were more than TWENTY (20) passes out of a total of 40 private candidates. The results show that I had to be doing something right at a time when the national CSEC math results are far below satisfactory.

I had applied for re-instatement in the teaching profession since December 14th, 2010, after I was unsuccessful at the polls. I have been told repeatedly that there is no vacancy to which I can be appointed and when actual vacancies arose and I applied, I was informed that my applications were unsuccessful. I actually checked at the Service Commissions Department during professional development week in late August 2012 to find out about the status of my application for appointment as a graduate mathematics teacher and I was told that my application was still on file and nothing could be done at this time.

I have heard some talk show hosts saying that I had abandoned the students in 2010 when I contested the elections and that my presence in the classroom this year will not have made a difference in the results. I wish to state the facts once again. I was TRANSFERRED from the Community College in August 2010, just days after I had been part of a team of three lecturers who obtained 26 grade 1’s in CAPE Unit 1 and Unit 2 math (a national record). The students that I prepared for the exams got 12 grade 1’s. I was sent to the Georgetown Secondary School in September 2010, then four days later reassigned to George Stephens Secondary School at Colonarie, where I spent 7 weeks before I applied for leave in November 2010 to contest the December elections.

Which students did I abandon? The talk show hosts are promoting the idea that I abandoned the college students, when I was actually TRANSFERRED from the college in August 2010.

Did I abandon the college students when I left my home in Georgetown

and went to the CW Prescod School TWICE a week for a total of four hours to teach CAPE UNIT 2 math in the time period February – May 2011? Thankfully, these students did well and some of them are now island scholars at various universities. I appreciate the numerous telephone calls that I received from students/parents expressing gratitude for what I had done.

Also, my record as a Mathematics teacher shows that I have never got the low CSEC pass rate in mathematics, as recorded by most of the secondary schools in our country this year. Many Vincentians, including officials in the Ministry of Education, know that I can make a positive difference at whichever institution I am assigned to.

I close by asking one question. Do you think that if I had contested the 2010

elections as a ULP candidate that I would have been at home 22 months later, waiting for a call to make a contribution in the field of education after being a teacher for 32 years?

Elvis Daniel