…performs marginally better than the rest of the region in both exams
Notwithstanding the challenges posed by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, and torrential rains that resulted in extreme flooding, Guyana outperformed the rest of the region in the 2021 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).
CXC’s Director of Operations, Dr. Nicole Manning made the disclosure as she officially released the June/July 2021 Examinations Results on behalf of CXC during a prestigious ceremony at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). CXC’s CEO and Registrar, Dr. Wayne Wesley; Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand; and Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Huston were among dignitaries present during the official launch of the results.
According to Dr. Manning, at the CSEC examinations, 70 per cent of the candidates from Guyana secured acceptable grades (one to three) compared to the region’s 68 per cent. Similarly, 88 per cent of the country’s candidates received acceptable grades (one to five) at CAPE when compared to the region’s 87 per cent in 2021.
Dr. Manning, in her extensive report, said in the case of CSEC, Guyana performed better than the Region in Integrated Science, Biology, EDPM, Human and Social Biology, Information Technology and Office Administration.
For example, 66 per cent of the candidates who wrote Integrated Science at CSEC in 2021 attained acceptable grades (one to three). Guyana, however, performed better with 69 per cent of its candidates securing acceptable grades. Similarly, 93 per cent of the candidates who wrote Biology in Guyana secured acceptable grades while in the Region, 89 per cent of the candidates attained acceptable grades.
The country’s performance in Mathematics has also improved, according to Dr. Manning, who was keen in pointing out that generally, there has been a decline in acceptable grades for that core subject in the Region.
Guyana, however, did not surpass the region in English A, Chemistry, Physics, Social Studies and Principal of Business.
At CAPE, Guyana’s performance was “marginally higher” when compared with the rest of the region. In her presentation, Dr. Manning noted that 100 per cent of the candidates from Guyana received acceptable grades – one to five.
For Communication Studies, 93 per cent of the candidates across the region attained acceptable grades in 2021 when compared to 96 per cent in 2019. However, Guyana’s performance was better with 97 per cent of its candidates securing acceptable grades in the subject.
Similarly, in Sociology Unit I, 96 per cent of the candidates from Guyana secured acceptable grades while 90% of the candidates across the region received acceptable grades in the subject.
The country also performed better in Biology Unit II, Law Units I & II and Integrated Mathematics.
However, Guyana’s performance was lower in Caribbean Studies, Pure Mathematics Unit I, Pure Math Unit 2, and Chemistry Unit 1.
Due to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic across the region, and natural disasters Dr. Manning said CXC reduced the requirements for School Based Assessments (SBAs) by as much as 50 per cent in some cases. Based on the stats provided, 94.6 per cent of the candidates submitted their SBAs.
Dr. Manning said what is concerning, is that 4,839 or 5 per cent of the SBAs were not submitted to teachers by students.
Additionally, the council, among other things, delayed examinations by six weeks and as well as the deadline for the submission of SBAs also by six weeks. The topics were also released to students approximately five weeks in advance. The 2021 candidates were also given the option for them to defer their exams to either January 2022 or June 2022.
Despite the changes made to accommodate students, Dr. Manning said there was reduction in both candidate entries as well as subject entries – the lowest in the last four years.
The Director of Operations – CXC – said absenteeism is of concern with 8.83% of the students staying away from the CAPE exams – the highest percentage within the last four years. Further 11.23 per cent of the CSEC students, who registered for the 2021 exams, did not show up.
“…this group would have registered, not necessarily deferred but would have decided not to attend the examinations,” Dr. Manning explained.
In General, CXC has registered thousands of deferral for exams to be written in January 2022 and June 2022.
