The Common Entrance (NGSA) results are live, and Guyanese have come alive. Jolly good show! Math was a big winner, soaring like never before; and English coming in for good reckoning. I concentrate on the sweet stats, with no mention of precedents involving intrusion(s) in tests centers, nor list(s) at Examinations Unit. Nor even why the band for entry into QC is wider than that of the Bishops’ High School. Numbers, just the numbers.
Over 50 means precisely that -over 50. Whether runs scored or percentage reached, there it stands. I’ll take it. It may be from 49% to 51%, or 21% to 51%, from small step to one great leap for one struggling student. Or a dozen, or a hundred; either way, a couple more hundreds will find me dancing in the streets. In the rain, too. Let that be said, and written in sand sewn together by steel and cement. To the Ministry of Education, a long nod of acknowledgement. The same is extended to the pantheon of parents, professionals, and patriots who all chipped in with greater or lesser efforts, and made the Math numbers jump and bump from their prior slump.
It is an utterly delightful number, that jump to 63.7% in Math scores over 50%, which I took at face value. I still do. Now that the cascades of applause are receding, the clinical part of me takes over, urges a closer look, with the focus on several areas. I go slowly, treat this gently, since children are involved, and the commanding interest is to exhort them to greater efforts, by giving them that little nudge of inspiration.
It is best to begin by walking backwards. Immediately, a collision occurs, which is the same one that the little ones experienced. The nightmare of the arrival and intensifying of the COVID-19 pandemic era. Just when they were stretching their muscles from the Nursery to the Primary level, there was this strange new animal called online or virtual learning. The untraditional for Guyanese children, for sure; and further the strange and unaccustomed taking up the center of their learning experience from Grade 1 upwards.
As a reminder, during Grades 1 and 2, those two crucial foundational years, the children were locked out of classrooms and firsthand instruction. Given that COVID-19 trapped the then Grade 1 and 2 children in front of a computer and away from a physical classroom, the progress from 2022, when live classes resumed is remarkable, indeed. It also flies in the face of what the knowledgeable-both foreign and local, and government and private-said would take years to get back on an even footing.
Well, it seems that Guyanese 2024-25 NGSA students, and the local school system. did the sensational: not only the public schools outclassed the private schools, but two other developments happened simultaneously. First, the burdens from falling behind and having to catch up, due to the COVID-19 virus were conquered in three short years, and the longer duration that the experts had feared are smartly vanquished. Moreover, this year’s NGSA crop of student did one better: they went past recovering lost ground, they advanced ahead of 49%, as the Math stats reveal.
Second, with formula duly recognised, the news is awash with the great news of 28.7% more of the students this year scaling the 50% mark in Math. Without cutting too fine a point on that number, I table that question again, one that calls for some official elaboration. How many of those approx. 4300 students fall between the 50-55%; and 55-60% cohorts/batches? This is raised because scores like those make it challenging to be competitive, as the going gets increasingly tougher during secondary school years.
In contrast, should the students topping 50% in Math cluster around 70% and above, that should set them up to do better at Math, and contribute more to the skills needed at this time in Guyana’s history. Which is it? Enlighten the public. Guyanese of every stripe would want to see the children rise, especially with so much needed from them for developmental objectives. Thus, the basis for the stats that are prompting so much jubilation need some more detail to get the endorsement that’s due.
Third, the above comes into play, because officialdom has been so nifty and sketchy with statistics. A consequence is that there is this degree of scrutiny to its output. Who believes food inflation numbers? Why are census numbers a secret?  What about unemployment and poverty numbers? And why there’s silence from Guyana’s own chosen representatives on Exxon’s 2024 profit numbers?
Fourth, a reminder is in order. In 2024, there was a Teachers’ strike that lasted over 70 days. As a practical matter, that’s an entire semester lost. For all intents and purposes, that strike is now of scant significance, considering the forward march of the Math numbers. This is despite the impacts that were obvious and lamented.
Fifth, there is something that baffles. Why is there this downward trend of compressed scores? From 2024 to 2025, the number went from 503 to 487. Respectfully, why? Why is that necessary? More pointedly, to accommodate whom, and with what as the driving impetus?
Last, I will be the first one to pen encomia and lead the cheering when the children do well. There must, however, be firm ground for me to do so. I call on those responsible to guide us (me) to the light with these encouraging numbers.
