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Insurance Industry pleased with its investment in ‘Maths Workshops’

 

The Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) recently spent just under $800,000 sponsoring four workshops for teachers of mathematics and integrated science in Montego Bay, Runaway Bay, Toll Gate and Kingston.The purpose of the workshop is to equip teachers to properly prepare their students to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams in a few months’ time.

  

Peter Levy, Vice President for General Insurance at the IAJ and CEO of British Caribbean Insurance Company, expressed the IAJ’s pleasure with its investment in the Mathematics Workshops organised by the Ministry of Education and sponsored by the IAJ over the last three years. He noted that in 2012 the CSEC Maths pass rate was 37.5 per cent.In 2013, the first year of the IAJ’s involvement in the workshops, the rates climbed to 42.2 per centthen jumped to 55.5 per cent in 2014 and increased to 62 per cent in 2015.

 

Levy in his address to the attendees noted that “Mathematics is more than a set of skills that make life more manageable – mathematics is a way of understanding the world around us.” He challenged the teachers to convey practical examples of the application of mathematics in everyday life to help to demystify it and make it more accessible to every student.

  

“You can’t correctly decide which cellular plan is right for you, without using Mathematics. You can’t manage a household budget, and stretch your paycheque efficiently, without using Mathematics. You can’t effectively compare different car loans, without using Mathematics,” Levy stated.

The Insurance Industry has been involved in promoting mathematics in schools through competitions among schools for over thirty years, and recently has been concentrating on initiatives like these workshops that up skill teachers.

 

Photo Caption

Peter Levy (right), vice-president of the Insurance Association of Jamaica presents sponsorship cheque to representatives of the Ministry of Education –Caroll Baker (left), education officer for science, and Davion Leslie, maths coordinator for Region One, during the recent workshop for maths and science teachers held in Kingston.