As many of the nation’s students who attained success at the 2016 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations are advancing their studies, others are at standstill.
Guyana Times was told of a situation at the Annandale Secondary School where several students were unable to obtain passes in certain subjects due to the school’s non-submission of School-Based Assessments (SBAs).
Outgoing Chief Education Officer Olato Sam
Parents of the affected students related to this publication that their children are especially disappointed since many were desirous of furthering their studies in Sixth Form and others at the University of Guyana (UG). Guyana Times was told that the school’s teachers had received the requisite training in sending the SBA grades online to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), but nonetheless did not adhere to the deadline.
According to information reaching this publication, parents requested advocacy to end their children’s plight, but noted that the school’s management, through its Headteacher, reportedly showed an unwillingness to write a letter to the Education Ministry at the said time.
Meanwhile, the parents had expressed hope that the situation would have been resolved in time for the students to attend classes at the higher level.
Outgoing Chief Education Officer Olato Sam on Wednesday confirmed the report of the school’s error, but related that the Education Ministry was currently working to have the matter sorted.
“The matter is being resolved; we are in direct contact with CXC trying to get it sorted,” Sam noted.
The CEO then declined to comment on the exact number of students who have been affected or if other schools had similar issues. He, however, stressed that the Ministry was, at this point in time, unable to correct the matter as it fell within the preview of CXC.
“We have to await CXC’s decision in the matter, it is not something that we alone can address,” Sam observed.
When the CSEC results were announced earlier this month, it was revealed that there was an overall pass rate of 64 percent between Grades One and Three across the Caribbean. With regard to Guyana’s results, Chief Executive Officer (Nursery) Ingrid Trotman had disclosed that a significant improvement in English A was recorded, moving from a pass rate of 49.36 per cent in 2015 to 59.3 per cent. She had also noted that for Mathematics, a decline was registered with a 38.37 per cent pass rate compared to last year’s 45.07 per cent.
