Singapore helps Green Hills develop teaching guide

Green Hills Academy is in a drive to improve its teaching methodologies right from Kindergarten to the Secondary level but with much emphasis being put on Mathematics. The school’s teachers underwent a new mathematics teaching methodology facilitated by experts from Singapore.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Green Hills Academy is in a drive to improve its teaching methodologies right from Kindergarten to the Secondary level but with much emphasis being put on Mathematics.
The school’s teachers underwent a new mathematics teaching methodology facilitated by experts from Singapore.

The model was developed by Panpac Education, one of Singapore’s leading educational publishers. Panpac has established itself in the region as a major publisher of textbooks as well as teaching and learning resources.

According to the Assistant Headmaster of Green Hills, Gaspard Kagenza, they chose the Singaporean experts because Singapore Mathematics is among the top in the world.

"They have developed their mathematics curricula so well in that it gives the child the real picture of what he learns in a more real way and not in the theoretical way like the traditional methods that we have been using,” said Kagenza.     

Speaking to The New Times, the General Manager and Publisher of Panpac, Lim Geok Leng, said that their programme gives teachers the right skills through the use of objects to teach primary school pupils in a much easier way.

"When you use the abstract methods of teaching mathematics, it becomes so difficult for the young mind of the child to memorise the concepts, and that is why we have developed this new methodology where children use real objects in counting numbers,” said Leng.

"This method helps the child to grow liking mathematics and hence having many future scientists.”

According to a government official who attended the trainings, he said that the new method was nice and child friendly.

"The method is well prepared and gives the pupil many chances of learning the subject and it would be good if the Ministry of Education adopted it to be used in the country alongside our traditional methods,” said Olivier

Rwamukwaya, the Inspector of Education in charge of Mathematics and Physics in the Education Inspectorate.

Ends