Improvement recorded at CSEC, CAPE

Despite COVID-19

Despite major setbacks in the delivery of education across the Caribbean in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caribbean Examination Council has recorded improved performances at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certification examination.
During a virtual press conference by CXC officials at its Headquarters in Barbados, it was revealed that the pass rate for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certification examination increased by a 3.8 per cent – when compared to the previous year.
Also, a total of 382,783 candidates received acceptable results between Grades One to Three.
In terms of CSEC Director of Operations – Examination Services Division, Nicole Manning said there were improved overall pass rates in several subject areas. Chemistry recorded a 62 per cent pass rate when compared to 60 per cent in 2019.
For biology, this year, 79 per cent of candidates recorded passes when compared to 73 per cent in 2019. There were also improvements for Physics, with a 75 per cent pass rate as compared to 73 per cent in 2019.
For Integrated Science, there was an improvement of 63 per cent when compared to 62 per cent in 2019. Mathematics recorded a 52 per cent pass rate when compared to 46 per cent in 2019. English A also recorded an 82 per cent pass rate as compared to 79 per cent in 2019. Social Studies improved by 70 per cent when compared to 65 per cent in 2019 and Information Technology recorded a 90 per cent pass rate when compared to 92 per cent in 2019.
As it relates to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination – which is taken by Sixth Form students, Manning said there was a slight reduction due to the number of persons who were absent for exams.
She underscored that in CAPE, there were acceptable grades (Grades 1-4) also recorded at this level, along with some advancements in some subject areas.
Pure Mathematics: Unit One, saw a modest boost from 60 per cent in 2018 and 71 per cent in 2019 to 72 per cent in 2020. Candidates with Grade Ones totalled 22 per cent, a two per cent increase from last year.
Caribbean Studies recorded a one per cent elevation – from 97 per cent in 2019 to 98 per cent in 2020. Twenty-four per cent of students attained Grade Ones, compared to 20 per cent in 2019.
Other improvements were recorded in Communication Studies, History: Unit One, Management of Business: Unit Two, Computer Science and Digital Media: Unit One.
On the other hand, Animation and Game Design: Unit One recorded a decline from 100 per cent in 2019 to 97 per cent in 2020.
The examinations were written in July and August of this year. However, a new structure, where only Paper One and the School-Based Assessments (SBAs) were used to grade students, was implemented.
This decision was made due to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases globally.