Tutoring programme helps students improve exam-ready maths skills

More than 120 primary school students received a major boost in mathematics this year thanks to Mathfanatix.

The youth-led tutoring programme celebrated the achievements of its participants with a closing ceremony on Saturday night at the Divi Southwinds Beach Resort.

Now in its eighth iteration, the initiative—spearheaded by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Barbados—offers free, small-group tutoring in mathematics to Class 3 and Class 4 students preparing for the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination.

Participant Indika Mayers was presented with her certificate by JCI Barbados President Sheldon Marshall.

Participants benefited from the guidance of 40 volunteer tutors, many of whom are students at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus, participating through the Give Back Initiative, while others volunteered simply out of a desire to serve their communities.

Chairperson of the 2025 Mathfanatix programme, Dr Deborah Rowe, emphasised the initiative’s role in supporting the Ministry of Education’s mandate for educational transformation.

“We bring collaborative learning. Our small group setting is ideal for students to feel comfortable enough to expound on some of the things they may not understand, and also that students feel comfortable sharing their knowledge with others, and peer-to-peer learning can then occur.”

She explained that the tutoring model encourages inquiry-based, collaborative, and data-driven learning.

“Our tutors, who are young persons themselves, are good at relating problems in mathematics to real life, and so they have visual representations. They are able to use whiteboards that we give them to show not just working but also that we utilise resources online in order for them to be able to show different sides of how mathematics works in real life.”

Sessions were held once weekly over three months. While the programme traditionally spanned the full school year, it was shortened in recent years.

(From left) Mathfanatix Chairperson Dr Deborah Rowe, Gillian Corbin of the Massy Foundation and JCI President Sheldon Marshall.

Dr Rowe highlighted the importance of database reflective learning.

“We do assessments at the beginning and at the end of our programme for the students, and so at the beginning we get to know where they are at. We see some of the areas they may be struggling with and what they may be strong in, and then the tutors can go from there in terms of bettering each person in their small group,” she said.

The results have been impressive, with almost 100 per cent of the students showing improvement, with some going from failing to passing the subject.

The programme operated from six locations across five parishes and continues to grow with the help of committed partners.

Dr Rowe shared, “We are proudly supported by our key sponsor, the Massy Foundation, who have been faithful over the last few years to help us meet the needs of improving mathematics learning across Barbados.” (STT)