Students’ performances in Mathematics and Science at the 2010 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) was most encouraging, reflecting a significant improvement compared to the previous year. This year, 34 per cent of the candidates who sat the Mathematics and 33 per cent the Science examinations obtained scores of 50 per cent or more, a 13 percent and 10 per cent increase respectively from 2009.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh, in commending the pupils’ performance, urged teachers to not only maintain but improve this trend.
The Minister pointed out that the result in the two subjects is an indication that the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) programme and other interventions in these two areas have yielded dividends.
Notably, these initiatives include an after school literacy and numeracy programme, a post Grade Six remedial programme which begins shortly after the sitting of the NGSA, and another  remedial programme hosted during the July/August vacation.
Also, schools are now more resourced with text books and greater focus is being placed on teacher training and quality delivery in the classroom.
But while students’ outcomes in Mathematics and Social Studies showed mark improvements, a slight improvement was recorded in Social Studies and a narrow decline in English.
Students’ performance in Social Studies improved from 32 per cent in 2009 to 34 per cent in 2010, and dipped from 27 per cent to 24 per cent for English over the same period.
Baksh stressed that the Ministry of Education has embarked on a more structured approach to the Grades Two and Four assessments to address students’ shortcomings, noting that a National Grade Four Certificate will be issued to successful candidates at that level from next year.
The move, he explained, aims at getting teachers and parents to pay greater attention to the performance of their charges and to enhance their outcomes at the NGSA.
In addition, the Ministry is embarking on a reform of the NGSA to focus primarily on English and Mathematics, also in a bid to up students’ performance.
Some 16, 351 candidates sat the NGSA this year; and of the top 106 pupils, 39 were boys and 555 marks out of a maximum total of 565 was the highest score achieved.
Baksh underlined that all candidates will receive secondary placements, either at secondary schools or secondary departments at primary tops.
He explained that secondary schools offering the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) examinations have been categorized based on their average performance index at those examinations in the past three years.
Places at the country’s five top secondary schools–namely Queen’s College, Bishops’ High, St. Stanislaus College, St. Rose’s High and St. Joseph High schools–are filled first. The remainder of the crop is given placement at other secondary schools.
Schools placed in category A, B and C in rank order, from the highest to the lowest, prepare students for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) over a five year period, while those in Category D and E do so in six years.
The schools in the last two categories are the secondary department of primary schools, referred to as Primary Tops, and are located mainly in the hinterland regions.
The Minister explained that all schools in a particular category and geographic location have a common cut-off score and pupils are systematically and randomly allocated by a computerized system.
In other words, category A schools in a geographical locale have a common cut-off score; similarly for schools in categories B and C. Based on available places in the schools, some are filled earlier than others.
The Ministry of Education extends special congratulations to the country’s top student, Sonia Ghir, of Mae’s Under 12, who obtained 555 marks at the examinations. Facilitations also go out to the other outstanding students and those who performed well at the NGSA.
The Ministry of Education urges all pupils entering secondary school to stay focused, and approach their studies at the secondary level with the seriousness it deserves.