Mathematical Literacy
Mathematical Literacy is the CCSLC Mathematics domain that asks you to handle numbers as they appear in real Caribbean settings - shop shelves, pay slips, utility bills, recipes, maps and newspaper tables - rather than as bare symbols. The questions supply the context; your job is to identify the quantity required, attach the correct unit, and produce an answer someone could act on. The mathematics is mostly arithmetic, ratio and percentage. The marks are lost in the reading.
Every number has three parts
A quantity in a real question carries a size, a unit, and often a time frame or a base. EC$45 per week is not EC$45. "15% off" means nothing until the price it is taken from is named. Before calculating, write each number with its unit and convert to matching units - grams to kilograms, millilitres to litres, cents to dollars, minutes to hours. Questions may be set in different regional currencies, so use the one printed and label your answer with it.
The tools you actually need
- Unit rate: price per kilogram, kilometres per litre, cost per kWh. Divide cost by quantity.
- Proportion: scale a recipe, map, mixture or paint ratio by multiplying both parts by the same factor.
- Percentage: discount, VAT, commission, simple interest, profit. Identify the base every time.
- Scale drawings: 1 : 200 means 1 cm represents 200 cm, so convert before measuring.
- Estimation: round to one significant figure to predict the answer, then check the calculator against it.
Worked example
A 3 kg bag of rice costs EC$22.50 and a 5 kg bag costs EC$35.75. Which is better value? Unit prices: 22.50 ÷ 3 = EC$7.50 per kg; 35.75 ÷ 5 = EC$7.15 per kg. The 5 kg bag is cheaper by 35 cents per kg. To compare like with like, 5 kg bought in 3 kg bags would cost 5 × 7.50 = EC$37.50, so the large bag saves EC$1.75. That is the arithmetic answer; a fuller decision also weighs the extra EC$13.25 cash outlay and whether 5 kg will be used before it spoils.
Traps that cost marks
- Dividing before converting units.
- Taking a percentage of the wrong base, or chaining percentages: a 20% rise then a 20% fall leaves less than the starting value.
- Rounding part-way through and carrying the error to the final cent.
- Answering the opposite question - "amount spent" when "amount left" was asked.
- Omitting the unit or currency on the final line.