Less than two weeks after the Ministry of Education released the 2026 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results, the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party—the main Opposition holding 16 of the Opposition’s 29 seats in the 65-member National Assembly—is calling on the government to release the statistical data and methodology used to produce the examination results, arguing that transparency is essential to maintaining public confidence in Guyana’s secondary school placement system.
The call comes after the Ministry announced on July 10 that 15,706 pupils wrote this year’s examination and that 20 students achieved the maximum standardised score of 484.52 marks, making it the strongest NGSA performance in the country’s history. The Ministry also said Guyana surpassed regional academic benchmarks.
While those headline results were welcomed, they have also generated questions from teachers, parents, education professionals and other sections of society about how the standardised scores were derived and whether the placement process fairly reflects students’ academic performance.
In a July 21 statement, educator/teacher and WIN Shadow Minister of Education Dr. Gordon Barker said the Ministry has not released the statistical evidence necessary for the public to independently evaluate the examination.
“From the outset, I wish to congratulate the fifteen thousand, seven hundred and six learners who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment. I also wish to congratulate the dedicated teachers and parents who offered guidance and support to these learners. Their achievements represent a collective effort by both parents and teachers.”
However, Barker said public confidence depends not only on the announcement of results but also on transparency in how those results were produced.
“Nonetheless, the announcement of these results also requires the Ministry of Education to disclose the details of the statistical standardisation processes involved in the tabulation of scores.”
He noted that the unusually high concentration of top standardised scores has led many teachers and parents to question whether the examination still possesses sufficient discriminatory power to distinguish among students with varying academic abilities.
“Given the reported concentration of high standardised scores, many teachers and parents are questioning whether the National Grade Six Assessment continues to possess the discriminatory power to distinguish among candidates with varying abilities.”
Barker argued that these concerns cannot be properly assessed unless the Ministry publishes the item difficulty indices, item discrimination indices, score distribution, validity evidence and reliability coefficients used in calculating the final results.
The issue has also drawn scrutiny from education assessment specialists, who note that statistical scaling and score normalisation are standard practices in many modern education systems. However, they also contend that such methods must be accompanied by transparency so that parents, educators and researchers understand how scores are calculated and whether results can be meaningfully compared across different years.
Barker also questioned the placement of students who reportedly achieved 97 per cent of the total standardised score but were assigned to schools within their catchment areas rather than to Guyana’s traditional senior secondary schools.
“Many parents and teachers have justifiably expressed their dissatisfaction with the placement of learners who attained as much as 97% of the total standardised score since public confidence depends on transparency.”
He said many parents believe some of the schools where those students were placed do not offer the same academic opportunities and resources as the country’s leading secondary schools, potentially placing high-performing students at a disadvantage.
The educator also warned that the placement outcomes risk discouraging students who dedicated years of preparation to earning admission to one of Guyana’s top schools.
“Additionally, the placements of these candidates may have caused disappointment and emotional stress among learners who dedicated their time to achieving high scores in hope that attaining over 95% in the National Grade Six Examination will guarantee them one of the five top schools.”
He added:
“Taking this into consideration, are we saying to these learners that no matter how hard they work to attain over 90%, their dream schools will always be out of their reach?”
Barker said transparency is fundamental to preserving the integrity of any national assessment.
“To maintain the integrity of any national assessment, transparency is of utmost importance. It also strengthens public trust in the Ministry of Education to provide fair and credible results of assessments.”
He urged the Ministry to publish the examination’s validity evidence, reliability coefficients, item difficulty indices, item discrimination indices and score distribution, arguing that independent scrutiny of those data would strengthen confidence in both the NGSA and the school placement process.
“Our parents, teachers and learners deserve to know the process involved in the tabulation and placement of these candidates,” Barker said.
