THE Ministry of Education collaborated with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) yesterday morning to hold the official launch of the May/June 2012 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE) results at the Guyana National Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. Dr. Gordon Harewood, Senior Assistant Registrar of the Examinations Development and Production Division of the CXC noted that this year saw an overall decline in the number of grades one to three passes at the CSEC examinations.
Nevertheless, he said that the CXC is very pleased with this year’s regional performance at the CSEC.
One hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight (156,968) candidates registered for CSEC examinations this year, compared with 153,120 in 2011; and 35 subjects were offered.
According to Dr. Harewood, 57,000 private candidates registered for the examination this year. There was an increase in the number of subject entries, as this year there were 637,510 subject entries as opposed to 621,095 in 2011.
Dr. Harewood said there was a significant decline in the number of candidates securing grades one to three (1-3) passes in English Language (47%). This, he noted, is as a result of the challenges the candidates faced in the Summary Writing and Comprehension sections of the paper. According to him, for the Comprehension section of the paper, the questions which required a little more critical thinking proved more of a challenge to the candidates.
He said the English Language paper consisted of two profiles – understanding and expression – and the candidates performed better. The candidates’ understanding of the language was better than their expression, Dr. Harewood noted.
He said that while he is concerned about the results of this subject this year, he is not in a state of despair, because the students of the Caribbean need to read more.
Harewood also noted a slight decline in the performance of the candidates in the English Literature examination. Sixty-eight percent of the entries achieved grades one to three (1-3) this year, as opposed to 71% in 2011. This was attributed to the students’ shortcomings in the Poetry section of the paper, and Harewood said he is not happy aboutthis.
Thirty-three percent of the entries for Mathematics this year achieved grades 1 to 3, compared to 35% last year. Dr. Harewood noted that concepts that should have been mastered at the lower level, such as perimeter and range, posed challenges to the students. Additional Mathematics was offered for the first time this year, and fifty-eight percent of the entries for this subject secured acceptable grades.
Dr. Harewood acknowledged the prevalence of plagiarism in the School Based Assessments (SBAs), and urged that teachers “nip it in the bud”.
The greatest number of CSEC subjects written this year was 17, and the age range of candidates was 12-72 years.
Two 12-year-olds achieved a grade one in Mathematics, and one achieved a grade one in Agricultural Science.
This year, there were 28,043 candidate entries and 110,057 subject entries for the CAPE. According to Dr. Harewood, 46 units were offered at the exam.
Mrs. Susan Giles, Senior Assistant Registrar, Examinations Administration and Security Division, noted that there were 9300 private candidates registered for this year’s exam regionally.
She said that Guyana was the country with the second highest increase in the number of candidates sitting the exam (from 627 in 2011 to 741 in 2012), with females dominating the examination.
Mrs. Giles noted a slight decrease in the number of candidates failing to submit their SBAs, and that none of the schools in Guyana had any outstanding SBA.
Dr. Harewood noted that grades 1-5 are acceptable at the CAPE level, and that “you expect the students to do well at CAPE if they have done well at CSEC.” He said the performance of students at this examination has been stable over the years.
He noted that the performance in Caribbean Studies was good, and that there was an improved performance in Communication Studies. According to him, there was a distinct improvement in Biology Unit 1, and a stable performance in Unit 2.
Speaking about CAPE law, he thanked all the lawyers who took time out from their busy schedules to administer their knowledge.
The 2-unit subjects — Entrepreneurship education; Food, Agriculture and the Environment; Performing Arts and Recreation; and Tourism Management will be examined for the first time in 2014.
The top students for the region at this year’s CAPE and CSEC exams will receive full scholarships to the University of the West Indies.
The CXC Registrar, Dr. Didacus Jules, handed over the official copy of Guyana’s CSEC and CAPE results to Minister of Education Priya Manickchand.
Also in attendance were Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony; Minister within the Finance Ministry, Bishop Juan Edghill; and several of Guyana’s top CSEC performers.’
Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/08/17/cxc-officially-hands-over-cape-csec-results-to-education-minister