Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
MORE THAN 1,000 grade 10 students are benefiting from a four-day residential camp, which is designed to boost their performance in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) mathematics and English language examinations.
According to Dorrett Campbell, director of communications in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, the camp began on Monday and is currently under way in five sites across the island.
The intervention programme to improve the performance of students began in September and targets 60 high schools and five technical high schools whose students have been consistently failing the CSEC mathematics and English examinations, attaining grades four to six.
When The Gleaner paid a visit to the Mico College Wednesday, where one of the camps is being held, students were seen in classes interacting with their teachers.
Doran Dixon, coordinator for the CSEC camp, told The Gleaner that the programme has been going well and he has been receiving positive feedback from teachers and students.
He noted that the presence of teachers with a good track record has assisted students. However, he acknowledged that four days is inadequate to completely transform the students. "but we are not hoping to reinvent the wheel but rather to get the students back into the education system with a greater appreciation of the subjects".
In the meantime, Jeffrey Douglas, mathematics teacher at the camp reported that the students are "very enthused."
However, he identified several weaknesses in their performance in geometry and problem solving.
"They are not quite willing to take on the challenge and sit and work at the problem to see if they can arrive at an answer," he said.
"I would rather they move away from this because it might be their downfall in the exam," he added.
Meanwhile, Sharon Munroe, one of the English teachers told The Gleaner that the students have been "responding well" to the subject but have problems in expressing themselves.
"It helps me with my writing skills," said 16-year-old Taralee Fonseca of Cumberland High School.
Sixteen-year-old Andrew Wallace said: "It has been going good so far because some of the things that I get here I don't get it at my school. I also find that I talk out more in this class".
