{"id":229404,"date":"2025-03-16T07:48:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T11:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=229404"},"modified":"2025-03-16T07:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T11:48:06","slug":"fixing-the-education-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixing the Education Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Derrick Nicholas<\/p>

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\u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.\u201d  Nelson Mandela (1918 \u2013 2013)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of any nation\u2019s development strategy must be the education of its most important resource: its people.  Developing a literate and numerate population, is laying the foundation for a powerful nation, whose workforce would be able to compete globally.<\/p>

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So, it is therefore puzzling why more emphasis is not being paid to ensuring that students are taught to develop their literacy, numeracy and critical thinking skills.  Antigua and Barbuda as well as the rest of the region have been dealing with perennial poor results in Mathematics at the Caribbean Examination Council.<\/p>

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We need to move beyond promises to do more if there is going to be a turnaround in these less than acceptable results.  At the heart of these poor results are students\u2019 inability to read, and therefore comprehend.  If a student cannot read, he stands very little chance of being able to understand and therefore master mathematics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several studies have shown that the \u2018crisis\u2019 is at the lower end of the education spectrum.  That is to say in the formative years.  These same studies suggest that no amount of money [later on] will be enough to \u2018fix\u2019 the problem.  It is therefore imperative that more resources and attention need to be paid to giving priority to teaching foundational skills, linking learning to productivity.<\/p>

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As stated in a previous article, studies have shown that 80 per cent of students who struggle with mathematics come from poor or indigent families.  It is in recognition of this<\/em><\/strong> fact that we must now look to adopt new strategies if we are to \u2018fix\u2019 this vexing issue.  To quote an old clich\u00e9: \u201cthe numbers do not lie\u201d.  Therefore, if we are to \u2018fix\u2019 the problem we must go straight to the cause, and stop applying a Band Aid<\/em> in the hope that things will get better later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greatest impact in this new paradigm will be realized when more resources are directed to early childhood and primary education.  This is where the greatest impact will be felt.  Each child must therefore learn to read, write and do basic arithmetic.  These are the foundation for productivity. <\/p>

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If the problem is addressed at the start of a child\u2019s educational journey, then there is little need for intervention later on.  The promise of an education should mean that each child leaves with the ability to read, write and can do at the very least basic arithmetic.  (This does not even begin to address the learning loss that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic).<\/p>

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Therefore, we must not produce students who can neither read nor write at the required grade level.  There must also be a review of the automatic promotion system.  To be sure, this is not a quick fix solution.  Instead, it has to be a set of deliberate and sustained interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABOUT the Author<\/strong>: Derrick Nicholas is a Private Math tutor who is passionate about helping students.  He believes that every child should be fully literate and numerate, as well as being functionally literate in Mathematics.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send feedback to the author: mathtutor268@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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by Derrick Nicholas \u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.\u201d  Nelson Mandela (1918 \u2013 2013) At the heart of any nation\u2019s development strategy must be the education of its most important resource: its people.  Developing a literate and numerate population, is laying the foundation for a powerful nation, whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":229405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFixing the Education Dilemma - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fixing the Education Dilemma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Derrick Nicholas \u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.\u201d  Nelson Mandela (1918 \u2013 2013) At the heart of any nation\u2019s development strategy must be the education of its most important resource: its people.  Developing a literate and numerate population, is laying the foundation for a powerful nation, whose […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-16T11:48:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-16T11:48:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Picture-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"636\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"424\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Fixing the Education Dilemma\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-16T11:48:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-16T11:48:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:636\/h:424\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Picture-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/fixing-the-education-dilemma\/\",\"name\":\"Fixing the Education Dilemma - 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