T&T's renowned Maths Master Dr Fayad W. Ali says success in exams comes from having a disciplined environment for tuition, continuous parental support and well-trained teachers.
Guardian Media contacted Dr Ali on Friday to find out his views on the dismal Secondary Entrance Assessment results. We also asked for his thoughts on the Ministry of Education's proposed supplemental classes for pupils during the July/August vacation.
Dr Ali, who has taught over 46,000 students with a 100 per cent pass rate said it was important to assess why the SEA grades were low before action is taken.
“We must look for the cause and not only treat the symptom,” he said.
He added: "Was it that online tuition was not met with the same level of absorption as face-to-face tuition? Students this year were faced with two years of online tuition. Was it due to the inability of a considerable number of students to access online learning? Was it due to students being a bit delinquent as they may have been unsupervised for long periods?" He questioned.
Out of the 19,000 students who wrote SEA, only 89 pupils scored above 90 per cent and 37 per cent scored above 50 per cent, the Ministry revealed last week. This means more than 11,000 scored below 50 per cent.
With his online classes in demand during the pandemic, Dr Ali believes parents should share responsibility for their children's grades.
"Greater parental support concerning ensuring regular attendance and punctuality, completed homework and school assignments, adhering to proper uniform and the rules of the school, overseeing of reports and working with teachers to improve shortfalls," he added.
In denominational schools, he said grades are often better than in government schools because these schools generally get the academically higher-performing students.
"Higher performers are generally harder workers, more disciplined, self-sacrificing," he added.
"Teachers are expected to be more accountable with respect to the academic performance of students under their tutelage.
In lower-performing schools, teachers may actually work much harder and even need to employ skills in remediation strategies to enhance a student’s performance," he added.
Dr Ali also called for teachers to be better trained at these institutions.
"Teachers should be trained in diagnosis and remediation strategies and even counselling strategies before entering the classroom. It is much more difficult to manage students from these schools, especially ones with learning disabilities. Sadly, the yeoman efforts of teachers at such institutions go mostly unnoticed and unheralded," he added.
Dr Ali said he has tried his best to assist students. He has written over 140 Mathematics, Add Maths textbooks and practice test books over the years.
The popular faspassmaths.com website which he has created along with Dr Shereen Khan has over three million hits and counting as it offers detailed solutions to CXC maths, Add maths, NCSE maths, SEA, and National tests for Std 1, Std 3 as well as study guides.
Asked what could be done to assist students and obtain better grades in future examinations, Dr Ali said data should be gathered about the root cause of the falling grades before any decision is taken.
"There were still students in the 99 percentile range at SEA levels. There were also students attaining straight 1’s and straight A’s at the CXC and CAPE levels. One must remember that even the most brilliant student still needs to be taught. It is only after being taught does learning follow," he explained.
For Mathematics, in particular, he said language is a major problem.
"The ability to read a question, extract data, examine what is being asked and then plan the strategy of solving is the major cause for failure, especially in the worded questions. I continue to teach mathematics with these guidelines and my method has not changed too much over the years. I continue to expect full support from parents and only require a student who is willing to learn. The rest is up to me."
So now that the new term is ahead, Dr Ali said there should be a review of topics on the syllabus noting, “ What was expected during online learning and examining may prove to be rather disappointing.” He said that teachers should remember that not all students have the same abilities, yet are expected with our system to be examined the same way and at the same time. But with proper parental guidance, a safe space to learn, willingness from the student and dedication from teachers, the success rate can be improved next year. You can visit his website at www.faspassmaths.com
Reporter: RADHICA DE SILVA