Barbara Connolly: Thoughts on the Cayman Islands new school year

Wishing our students and teachers a productive school year

As we prepare to start a new school year, I offer my best wishes and support to the over 900 educators and professional staff who will serve in our Government schools and work with the over 5,000 students who attend them. My grandchildren are amongst those students.

I also welcome the 137 new teachers joining our schools.

I am especially thrilled to see 14 new specialised mathematics teachers arrive in Cayman’s public primary schools. The impact of having dedicated math teachers is truly valuable, and their role in helping implement the new curriculum marks a significant step toward enhancing student achievements.

This is important to me. I have been raising concerns about math performance in government schools for over a year. Our children are performing well in other subjects, so they are very capable. But they do need extra help with mathematics. So, the arrival of these specialist teachers fills me with hope.

It is a bit unfortunate, though, that this process took so long to come about. The Education Minister mentioned last November that she was working on securing funds for these specialised teachers. Given the need, prioritising funding for this initiative should have been in place earlier. The resulting delays have unfortunately meant that students missed out on the advantages of receiving the necessary tutoring for a year or more.

However, I am happy that these teachers are now in place. But more is needed.

As I’ve mentioned before, the quality of teaching is what truly shapes our students’ outcomes. While adding these new specialised math teachers is truly important, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

What’s crucial now is to ensure that these math specialists receive the support they need to elevate standards. This includes implementing strategies such as tailored classroom instruction, flexible grouping based on individual student needs, ongoing assessment, and prompt intervention for students struggling with math concepts.

This approach will guarantee that our new mathematics teachers provide personalised guidance, ensuring every student gets the assistance they need to progress and eventually succeed.