You'll remember Dr. Arlie Petters as the Belizean born physicist who made major waves in international scientific circles when he challenged Einstein's theory of relativity. But these days, Petters hasn't been studying the stars as much as he has been getting Belize's future stars to study. You might not have heard about it, but since late December, Petters has been busy compiling workbooks that will be used as study and learning aids for students taking the PSE. Now you might say that it's not realistic to write a serious workbook in two months, but that's just what Petters did. They've been ready for a few weeks, and after clearing the bureaucratic bottlenecks, were launched today and 7NEWS was there.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"We are all aware of the disappointing PSE results in recent years. This prompted me to write a customized PSE mathematics book, a student's edition and a teacher, tutor, parent edition."

These books could mean the difference for your child in the PSE. They're developed by Belizean physicist Dr. Arlie Petters working along with a group of professionals form the United States who produced them in a record two months.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"These books are in accordance with Belize's national curriculum standards and are tailored to the cultural context of our nation. Indeed the books are homegrown and are made in Belize."

Petters wrote about a hundred of the problems himself and put two Duke University publications he's obligated to do on hold just to get these out in time to make a difference for the PSE in early May: personal and professional sacrifices - and he told the media why he did it.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"It was a very stressful, painful period but I felt that I do not want to see another round without trying my very best to help our children. But it was a lot of all nighters but at the end of the day it is doing it out of love, as Mr. Frazer has said, nobody could pay me enough to do this. This kind of thing, you do it because you see the potential in our children and I know they are going to be the ones to lead our nation someday. Education is the great equalizer, it happened for me and I do want to give that back to them."

And teacher's union activist George Frazer is convinced, Petters is the real thing.

George Frazer, Teacher's Union
"I must on behalf of our teachers and union, give big kudos to Dr. Petters because he has shown where caring and love comes from, from the heart and he is going back to his roots."

And while there is plenty of goodwill to go around, there's hardly any time for backslapping. With only two months to go before the PSE is conducted in early may, can there be realistic hopes that this will make a difference in this year's test?

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"So I think it is better to have a product available than nothing at all and I feel that if we can get say ten more students to do better on the PSE we have moved a step further. There has to be some improvement. It may not be something dramatic, fine, but you consistently stick it out and you keep improving each year. So I see this as a fixable problem, it is not a hopeless situation."

Not hopeless, but it is profoundly worrying. 70% of the students who took the PSE last year failed, and the average overall score was 57%.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"Our position is that if you do nothing, we will continue to have very bad results. Like with any illness, you try and attack it as early as possible and you use whatever tools are available to take care of the problem."

And once they get some improvement - the education system will be one step closer to realizing Dr. Petters' dream of moving Belize from third to first world.

Dr. Arlie Petters,
"Our aim is to create a cadre of first rate Belizean mathematics, science, and technology experts who would be part of a skilled labor force to draw upon in attracting higher technology industries."

That long journey begins with the small steps in this book - and the accelerated publication of it indicates that Dr. Petters will be there very step of the way.

There are two workbooks, one for students and the other for teachers and parents. They will be available at Angelus and A&R late this week, or early next week. They are $20 each. The Petters Research Institute will donate two thousand dollars worth to needy schools and foundations.