The Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) spent just under $800,000  sponsoring four workshops for teachers of Mathematics and Integrated Science in Montego Bay, Runaway Bay, Toll Gate and Kingston so the teachers can properly prepare their students to sit the CSEC Exams in a few months’ time. Mr Peter Levy, Vice President for General Insurance at the IAJ and CEO of British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC), expressed the IAJ’s pleasure with their 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 Maths pass rate was 37.5 %. In 2013, the first year of the IAJ’s involvement in the workshops, the rates climbed to 42.2% then jumped to 55.5% in 2014 and increased to 62% in 2015.

Mr 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 pay cheque efficiently, without using Mathematics. You can’t effectively compare different car loans, without using Mathematics”. The Insurance industry has been involved in promoting mathematics in schools through competitions among schools for over thirty years, and recently have been concentrating on initiatives like these workshops that upskill the teachers.