Region 10 records improvemenst in English, Science, Social Studies at NGSA

– notable decline in Maths

Schools in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) have recorded improvements in the subject areas of English Language, Science and Social Studies at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, however, there has been a notable decline in Mathematics.

This is according to acting Regional Education Officer (REDO) LaShanna Anderson, who delivered a report on schools’ performances during the statutory meeting of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) last Thursday.
“We have improved in all of our areas but we had a little decline in Mathematics. Though above the national average, we have declined by 4.8 per cent. And so, we need to work to improve in this area,” Anderson related.
She noted that English Language saw an improvement of 6.3 per cent, while Science saw an improvement of 2.5 per cent and Social Studies an improvement of 5.2 per cent. Schools in areas of Sub Region 2 (along the Berbice River) have also recorded exemplary results, according to the REDO.
“In Sub Region 2…we did well. We had schools that secured a hundred per cent passes in overall performance,” Anderson stated. These schools included Calcuni and Atonement where 100 per cent passes were obtained as it relates to students who gained 400 marks and above, while DeVeldt recorded 66.6 per cent passes. Meanwhile, the Howell Wilson Primary School at Ituni also saw 100 per cent of students gaining 400 marks and above with the school recording 56.3 per cent passes. The Aroaima Primary School saw a pass rate of 44.4 per cent, while Kimbia saw a pass rate of 57 per cent where students gained 400 marks and above. With these results, Anderson said there is still room for improvement, as she urged the continuous support from regional stakeholders.
“So though we would have had improvement, we also need to improve even more. Also, I’m very happy that we have all of our stakeholders on board to help us to achieve,” she said.
Anderson indicated that the Regional Education Department is now looking at suitable ways in which it can reopen schools for students in Grades Five and Six in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines.
“The Department would have completed all our survey early last month and we have been strategising to see how best we could safely reopen schools for this Division – that’s Grade Five and Six; and we hope to put all the necessary precautions in place, all the guidelines and so on – that we would have implemented when we had our National Grade Six Assessment…and the CSEC. We hope to reinforce those so we can have them seated in keeping with social distancing…because we know that we would not be able to have the whole school…”, she said.
The Department is also seeking to improve internet access in schools along the Berbice River, including Howell Wilson Primary, Aroaima and Hururu. Anderson noted that the satisfactory performance of the schools serves as reason to improve internet access.
“Those schools along the Berbice River where the signal is weak…we are working feverishly to have those put in place at the shortest possible time because we expect our students to be gainfully engaged as we seek to improve the performance of education in the Region…We would have analysed our results, we saw where our weaknesses were and so we are putting extra resources to improve performance at those schools,” she said.
The REDO also boasted that there are 100 per cent trained teachers at Mabura Hill. According to Anderson, overall, 150 students from across the Region were allotted places at Mackenzie High, while 35 students gained places at National Sixth Form schools in Georgetown, with 10 of those students requesting to be placed at the Mackenzie High School.
In the area of CSEC matriculation, Harmony Secondary, which is the only Grade C school in Linden, came in for high praise.
“I’m happy to report that Harmony would have gotten students that matriculate from zero per cent – they have moved to 3 per cent. Harmony is on the rise and we expect even better results come 2021,” Anderson said.
She also congratulated the New Silvercity Secondary School, which she related has consistently excelled, noting this year the school did exceptionally well in terms of matriculation with a significant increase of 58.7 per cent.
“They had a 27 per cent increase. Linden Foundation (Secondary School) did well in double-digits too – they had 12 per cent increase. Christianburg Wismar Secondary, 10.49 per cent increase, Kwakwani Secondary, 11.37 per cent increase”, Anderson said.
She noted, however, that the Mackenzie High School, which is a Grade A school, had a decrease of seven per cent given that it had achieved a 79 per cent matriculation rate while this year the school achieved 72 per cent.
In light of this, she urged that more support be given to the educational institution. Anderson said overall, 72 per cent of the general population that wrote CSEC at that school matriculated. Additionally, the Wisburg Secondary School secured 10 per cent pass rate at double digits.
The students’ performances across the Region came in for high praise by Regional Councillors and Regional Chairman Deron Adams. Councillor Norris King in his remarks urged continued support.
“At this time, I would like to encourage all of us on the RDC to keep pushing, keep supporting our education sector because those children, as they mature, are the future and those are the ones that we can depend on to build or to continue building this Region,” he said.