Guyana Times columnist shines at CAPE

…as official results to be released next week – Olato Sam

Guyana Times columnist Ashley Anthony has performed outstandingly at this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), copping six Grade Ones.

The 17-year-old aspiring biophysicist stated that the news of her performance hit her with a shock, although she did expect to achieve excellence, “I hoped to do well but I wasn’t quite expecting that it would be this well,” she said, highlighting that a Grade One in Pure Mathematics did come as a pleasant surprise.

Anthony secured Grade Ones in Biology, Chemistry, Caribbean Studies, Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics and Physics. She had captured 17 Grade Ones at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) last year.

When asked what her secret was to performing well in national examinations, Anthony stated that she studied and applied herself: “I didn’t really have any particular schedule to study. I guess I was focused.” However, she did indicate that different studying techniques work for different people. “They just have to know which method works for them,” she said.

This year, CAPE saw the region attaining a success rate of 90 per cent. For years Guyana has been struggling to boost its student performance in Mathematics and English, but last year the country saw improved pass rates at both examination levels.

The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) on Friday announced that there is an overall pass rate of 64 per cent of students scoring between Grades One and Three after the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results were analysed.

With CXC 2016 results out, critics are awaiting the breakdown to confirm whether Guyana has registered a decline in the areas of Mathematics, Science and Information Technology compared to last year’s figures.

Meanwhile, when this newspaper contracted Chief Education Officer Olato Sam about the release of the results for CAPE by the Education Ministry, he indicated that while the ministry already has the results, it is being analysed. He however noted that the ministry will host a press briefing early this week to release the results.

Additionally, he said that he is yet to receive the CXC results.

The performance in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) for 2016 saw the region attaining a success rate of 90 per cent. This is according to Glenroy Cumberbatch, a Registrar at CXC in Barbados, during the official released on Friday in Anguilla.

The official results for both exams were released on Friday night at 22:00h.

CXC on Friday announced that there is an overall pass rate of 64 per cent of students scoring between Grades One and Three after the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results were analysed.

It also stated that despite a drop in the number of persons writing the exams, there was an increase in the number of subjects being written by students. The results were officially released on Friday in Anguilla.

During the presentation of the results, it was noted that 55,130 males wrote the exams compared to 77,544 females.

However, there was a decline in the performance in Mathematics when compared to 2015. Overall performance in Mathematics saw a 13 per cent decrease. Candidates recorded a 44 per cent pass rate in Mathematics this year as compared to 57 per cent in 2015.