Study to Determine Failure Factors in CXC Examinations

A study is to commence next year to determine the factors contributing to the low grades being achieved by many students in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Mathematics, Sciences and English tests.

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry, Wesley Barrett, tells JIS News that the study will help to determine the true factors behind the low achievements, and will inform the policy makers and the schools further, on what to do to tackle the problem.

Mr. Barrett, who also chairs the CXC National Committee, says the study, which is being done jointly by the National Council on Education, will sample 60 secondary schools to investigate the impact of specific variables, such as school administration, teachers, students, parents, the past students association and school resources.

The Chief Education Officer, who has also prepared a paper on the subject, and which is to be presented to the Minister, is recommending certain measures that, if implemented, could significantly raise percentage passes.

Among other things, he is suggesting a 20 per cent increase in per capita allocation in the education budget for the 2004/05 fiscal year; a 10 per cent increase in the training budget for teachers; and the implementation of a structured programme of continuous assessment across grades seven to 11.

The National Committee monitors several CXC programmes in the island, and its membership consists of individuals from the private sector, teachers association and the Ministry. It is proposing that the information from the study be used to assist key education planners and policy makers take steps to implement programmes to improve the quality of secondary school graduates.

This year, some 20,351 students sat CXC English Language at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level, but only 45 per cent passed at Grades I, II and III. This was a decline from last year, when 53.7 per cent passed out of a total sitting of 19,638 students.

In Mathematics this year, only 36 per cent of the 16,795 candidates received Grades I to III. Last year it was 36 per cent of 17,124 students who sat the examinations.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) November 2003 issue of 'The Labour Market Information Newsletter of Jamaica', compared rates of passes in four countries, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Guyana and found that Jamaican students ranked third, compared to their counterparts in the four subject groupings - Arts/Language, Sciences, Technical/Vocational and in Business.

But although Jamaican and Barbadian students took an average of three subjects, per person, compared to four subjects in Trinidad and Tobago and five in Guyana, the average number of subjects passed per student was two for Jamaica and Barbados, and three for Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

According to the PIOJ report, some 30.7 per cent of students in Jamaica gained no passes in 2003 compared with 17.8 per cent in Barbados, 21.3 per cent in Trinidad and Tobago and 24.5 per cent in Guyana.

"A plausible explanation for the lower number of subjects taken and passed in Jamaica and Barbados could be the fact that in these two countries, students in the terminal grade (Grade 11) sat other academic examinations," the report stated. The main alternatives are the Secondary School Certificate (SSC), the Cambridge General Certificate Examination (GCE O' Level) and the National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J).

It adds however, that "further investigation is required to ascertain other causative factors for the lower numbers of subjects sat and passed in Jamaica".

Another factor which must not be overlooked, Mr. Barrett says, is the budgetary allocation to education by each country across the region, which directly affects overall performance.

In fact, he says that considering the per capita student expenditure and teacher/pupil ratio, Jamaica's performance exceeded the other countries.
He points to St. Kitts, for example, which has the highest per capita student allocation and the highest success rate in English. Grenada, on the other hand, spends on average, less on each child than the other countries, and its success rate is lower than that of the other countries.

"A closer examination of the data .shows that dollar for dollar Jamaica achieves a higher return in terms of success rate than St. Kitts and Trinidad and Tobago," Mr. Barrett states in his paper.

He adds that St. Kitts spends over twice the amount Jamaica spends on each child to obtain 50 per cent more in the success rate. To a lesser extent than in the case of St. Kitts, Jamaica has an advantage over Trinidad in the input/output relationship.

Another positive development is the increasing number of students from the reclassified high schools taking the CXC, making the transition from the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations.

In his document, the Chief Education Officer is recommending compulsory school attendance; a deliberate and vigorous programme be put in place to engage more parents in their child's education; urgently addressing furniture and equipment shortage; and ensuring continued discussions with teachers and their associations, the school Boards, parent/teacher associations and the private sector on how efforts could be co-ordinated to improve the quality of education.

He also suggests that "initiatives be taken to set minimum, intermediate and advanced standards for primary and secondary students; the establishment of Literacy Centres; the rationalisation of technical/vocational programmes at the secondary level; the establishment of a centre of excellence for primary science teaching/learning".