Yesterday, (Thursday, March 23), fifteen primary schools from across Jamaica, were awarded by JPS shareholder, Marubeni, for their commendable performance in the Japanese-developed Mathematics programme – “Calculation Time.”

The programme, which is a collaborative effort between the Government of Japan and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI), was designed to assist students at the primary level to gain a better understanding of Maths, with the aid of games, toys, music, dots and other non-traditional tools.

The Calculation Time programme is now available in the form of an “app” at the link https://goo.gl/aSuP71 and is accessible to all students at the primary level.  It was administered in pre-test and post-test phases to a group of 65 schools which were ranked based on their performance in both tests.  The fifteen schools with the highest ranking following both tests were rewarded with monetary prizes for school related supplies.

Kelly Tomblin, President and CEO, JPS, during the ceremony, lauded the students and encouraged them to, “…be the best version of yourselves.”  She also stated that many persons have been taught Maths the wrong way, however, we should, “…try to avoid the Mad Myths of Math which promulgate that: 1. Math is Miserably Hard, 2. Math is not accessible and 3. Math is Boring.”

Mr Tatsuya Ozono, President & CEO of Marubeni Caribbean Power Inc., who is very pleased with the Japan/Jamaica collaboration, thanked the Maths teachers for the support shown with the programme and added, “Maths is very important as it is the language of science.”

Senator the Honourable Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and information, applauded the students and teachers and stated, “This initiative shows that we can leverage technology to teach. We have a responsibility to excite our students. Learning needs to be fun.  It can’t be approached in a way that causes our students to lose interest. 

Calculation Time was first introduced in Jamaica in 2011 with Marubeni Caribbean Power Inc. as the main affiliate of the project on behalf of Japan.  Kyoko Machida, a Mathematics teacher, who has worked in Japan and Singapore for 37 years, and is a senior volunteer of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has been a dedicated member of the programme in Jamaica since October 2016. She works in the Core Curriculum Unit at MOEYI as a Maths teacher in charge of Calculation Time and travels to primary schools to teach students how to use the programme.