Performance drops in Math, English; jumps in Social Studies, Science at NGSA

Figures from the National Grade Six Assessment 2022, released on Friday, show that there was a dip in the performance in Mathematics and English. On the other side, Science and Social Studies saw increases in the pass rate.
Director of Operations at the Caribbean Examinations Council, Dr Nicole Manning reported on Guyana’s performance at this year’s NGSA from the statistical vantage point.

Social Studies recorded an increase in performance at 58.9 per cent but also an increase in students scoring zero. As it relates to science, overall performance moved from 40.12 per cent to 45.45 per cent.
English saw a slight reduction in overall performance at 64.8 per cent. For Mathematics, there was a slight reduction when compared to 2021 with 34.7 per cent pass rate.
This year, 16,223 students were registered for the 2022 NGSA sitting. Some 3355 students scored above 75 per cent or in the fourth quartile ranking. Additionally, some 3456 scored above 50 per cent.
“Overall performance across the subjects for 2022, while the English remails on top, followed by Social Studies, Science and then Math, remember that your Math and Science has been improving. You had marked improvement in both of these areas so that is very important.”
The highest possible standardised scores obtainable were 137.89 for Mathematics, 125.17 for English, 126.76 for Social Studies, and 133, 56 for science. In total, the highest possible obtainable score was 523, to which Guyana’s highest mark was 518.
In the top 10 spots, there was a gender distribution of seven females and three males.
NGSA is spearheaded by the Caribbean Examinations Council. According to Dr Manning, there are several layers to maintain the integrity of the exams. This includes a general retention of Examining Members; increased volume of table leaders and markers; and quality assurance.
“Our Examining Committee Members, same structure we use for all our examinations, is to ensure we create from development straight through the marking process, the standardised way of operating. While we work with individuals across the national sphere of Guyana, these individuals are persons who are not within the local teaching realm directly touching the examination. That creates this level of objectivity, which is very important for the quality of exams,” the CXC official positioned.
The Education Ministry has continued its collaboration with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to improve the quality of all national primary grade assessments. Teachers, subject specialists and test development officers developed the test items with the technical guidance of the Caribbean Examinations Council, addressing key areas such as item construction, weighting of items, sampling and other psychometric elements. Candidates were tested in four subjects namely, Mathematics, English, Science and Social Studies. The examination in each subject area consisted of two papers. Paper One consisted of forty multiple choice items while Paper Two consisted of essay type or open-ended items. (G12)