Make the teaching of mathematics lively

Teachers have been urged to find innovative ways to make the teaching of mathematics lively, simple and easy for students to understand.

Mr. William Boakye-Baafi, Coordinator of the Association of Catholic Teachers, said every effort must be made to demystify the subject and help students to overcome the fear many had for it.

He made the call at the inauguration of the Obuasi Diocesan branch of the association in a ceremony held at the Saint Thomas Catholic Cathedral in Obuasi.

He expressed concern about the consistent poor performance of students in core mathematics in the West African Secondary School certificate Examination (WASSCE), describing the situation as, worrying.

He gave statistics to back his assertion and said in year 2011, 82,106 students, representing 55.34 per cent of candidates presented for the examination could not obtain the pass grade.

The situation was not any better in the following year, as 86,171 students, failed the subject and that figure constituted 49.57 per cent.

In year, 2013, a total of 256,836 students, could not make it and they formed 63.03 per cent of the total number of students, who sat for the examination.

Again, 159,801 and 198,653 students representing 66.44 per cent and 74.19 per cent of candidates registered for the 2014 and 2015 WASSCE, respectively, could not make the grade.

Mr. Boakye- Baafi said the teachers could not continue to use the traditional methods of teaching the subject and that they needed to find new ways of doing things.

He also spoke of the need to supply schools with adequate teaching and learning materials alongside regular in-service training to introduce teachers to modern teaching techniques.

The Most Reverend John Yaw Afoakwah, the Diocesan Bishop, asked teachers to show strong commitment and work with passion to improve the performance of the schools.

They should combine academic excellence with good character training, he added.