CAPE results out
New Amsterdam Multilateral copped the top spot in this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), dethroning Queen’s College which has held that position for the last few years.
The country’s top performer is Eileen Marray who earned Grade One in five subjects:
Caribbean Studies Unit One, Communication Studies Unit One , Accounting Unit One, Economics Unit One and Management of Business Unit Two. Marray is followed by Bishops’ High School students Rebecca Khan and Dinello Mahabir.
Four Queen’s College students managed to secure positions among the top performers. They are Yana-Marisa Edwards, Kia Persaud, Kibwey Peterkin and Yonette Streete.
Danielle Anthony from St. Rose’s High School completed Guyana’s complement of academic high-flyers at the CAPE.
CAPE is offered at the sixth form schools and Guyana has eight such institutions. Private centers also offer the programme. The sixth form programme is a two-year one and allows students to sit the Advanced Level exams at two sessions.
The general consensus among the top performers was that their success was had through hard work, dedication and, most importantly, a strong support base that included teachers and parents, as well as friends.
Marray told the Guyana Chronicle that she was a self motivated person and that she was proud of her achievements which were a result of much hard work.
She also performed well last year when she sat the CAPE exams at the Lower Six level.
Khan is not in the country and so was unable to share her views with the Guyana Chronicle.
As for  Mahabir, his response was dramatic. He resigned from his job, yesterday, at Demerara Shipping and said he was overwhelmed at the news.
“I am going back to school,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.
Edwards said this too was her intention as she is preparing to pursue studies in medicine at the University of the West Indies.
She too placed among top performers last year when she sat the CAPE at the Lower Six level.
“I am elated and excited about the results…by doing medicine I hope to help people. Medicine is a great place to be if you want to help people,” Edwards said.
Persaud has also made her name in academics and with this year’s CAPE results she reaffirmed her ability. She was Guyana’s top student in 2009 at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) tests.
She told the Guyana Chronicle that she plans to go back to school and complete studies in other Advanced Level areas.
Persaud said, “I am grateful and amazed that I did well.”
But Peterkin said he was not amazed at the results, rather he worked hard for the results he received.
“I didn’t work for anything below Grade One,” he said. “My hard work paid off and I am almost at a loss for words to say how good this success feels.”
Streete told the Guyana Chronicle that this success is a springboard to pursue other successes in life.
“I applied to a University in Canada so right now I am preparing for that, but I am grateful to have done well,” she said.
Anthony voiced similar sentiments, but noted that her emotions are bitter sweet since one of her teachers, Ms. Miggins from St. Rose’s High, died yesterday.
She said she will be returning to school to pursue Advanced Level studies in Law and History, among others.
In addition to these eight students, a total of 466 across the county sat the CAPE tests.
Excellent Performance
Education Minister Shaik Baksh, at a press briefing yesterday, said Guyana’s overall performance is excellent.
He noted that this year the pass rate is 80.4 per cent, a reduction from the 87.5 per cent pass in 2009.
However, Baksh maintained that overall the performance was very good.
The 474 candidates were offered courses in 24 subject areas and the Education Minister reported that there were 1799 subject entries, an increase from last year’s 1393 entries. From these, there were 140 Grade Ones, 238 Grade Twos, 338 Grade Threes, 299 Grade Fours and 317 Grade Fives – resulting in the overall 80.4 per cent pass rate.
Baksh said there was 100 per cent passes in Environmental Science Units One and Two, French Units One and Two, Geography Unit Two, Information Technology Unit Two, Literature in English Unit Two, Spanish Unit One, Sociology Unit Two and Food and Nutrition Unit One.
He added that 75 per cent passes, and higher, were recorded in Accounting Unit One, Biology Unit Two, History Unit Two, Communication Studies Unit One, Caribbean Studies Unit One, Chemistry Unit Two, Economic Unit One, Information Technology Unit One, Geography Unit One, Law Units One and Two, Literature in English Unit One, Management of Business Units One and Two, Physics Unit Two, Pure Mathematics Unit Two, Sociology Unit Two and Computer Science Unit Two.
Passes between 50 and 75 per cent, the Education Minister noted, were obtained in Applied Mathematics Unit One, Biology Unit One, Chemistry Unit One, Computer Science Unit One, History Unit One and Physics Unit One.
“Unsatisfactory performance was recorded in Pure Mathematics Unit one, where the pass rate was below 50 per cent,” he said.
Baksh pointed out that Mathematics is an area of concern and several initiatives are being undertaken to ensure that this is arrested.
At the primary level, he said, there is the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) initiative which engages children from and early level, in an effort to improve performance in Mathematics.
The Education Minister added that the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) is also rolling out programmes for teachers to enhance their capacity.
Baksh made it clear that there are sufficient teachers in the system to deliver the Mathematics curriculum.
He added that improvements were noted in Physics, since in 2009 the pass rate in Physics Unit One was 58.3 per cent. It is 70.9 per cent in 2010. In 2008 the pass rate was 44.4 per cent.
Similarly in Economics Unit One, Baksh said, the pass rate increased from 50
per cent in 2009 to 96.2 per cent in 2010.
“Overall the pass rates are very high,” the Education Minister said.
When asked about New Amsterdam Multilateral stealing the limelight from the city schools, Baksh said he is pleased that an out of town school has done so well.