PRESIDENT’S College emerged on top at this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), with aspiring cardiothoracic surgeon Shalita Appadu scoring 6 Grade Ones and 1 Grade Two.

Appadu said that while she expected to perform well, she did not think she would do this well. She achieved Grade Ones in Caribbean Studies, Communication Studies, Biology Unit Two, Chemistry Unit Two, Economics Unit Two and Management of Business Unit Two, and a Grade Two in Economics Unit One.
Appadu, a resident of Auchlyne Estate on the Corentyne Coast in East Berbice, will be commencing studies towards an Associate Degree in Biology at the University of Guyana Tain Campus in Berbice. She wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certification (CSEC) examinations at the New Amsterdam Multilateral High School.
The second position is shared by Melodie Lowe, Kaleshwar Singh, Prashant Shivdas, Deowattie Narine, Anuradha Dev and Benedict Sukra, all Queen’s College students who each obtained five Grade Ones.
Other top performers in CAPE this year include Malinie Tulsie of Queen’s College, with four Grade Ones, one Grade Two and one Grade Three; Amrita Milling and Andy Sattan of Queen’s College, with four Grade Ones and one Grade Two; Anil Tulsie of St. Stanislaus College, with four Grade Ones and one Grade Two; Jonnelle James of Queen’s College, with four Grade Ones and one Grade Three; and Rooana Rose of Queen’s College with four Grade Ones.
This year, 748 students from eight secondary schools and two private centres wrote CAPE in Guyana. According to the official report released by the Ministry of Education, an overall pass rate of 89.19 percent was achieved, an improvement on last year’s 86.2 percent.
An increase was noted in the number of Grade Ones achieved, specifically 314 Grade Ones were recorded for this year, as compared to 266 last year.
In relation to gender, 1018 males and 1959 females wrote the assessment. Of these, 89.5 percent of males received passing grades, as opposed to 85.09 percent of females.
Candidates obtained a 100 percent pass rate (Grades One to Five passes) in Food and Nutrition Unit 1; Spanish Unit 1; Literatures in English Unit 1; Art & Design Unit 1; Applied Mathematics Unit 2; Accounting Unit 2; Food and Nutrition Unit 2; Geography Unit 2; Information Technology Unit 2; Electrical & Electronic Technology Unit 2, and Geometrical & Mechanical Engineering Drawing Unit 2.
Moreover, a 75 percent or higher pass rate of candidates was obtained in Accounting Unit 1; Applied Mathematics Unit 1; Biology Units 1 and 2; Caribbean Studies Unit 1; Chemistry Unit 2; Communication Studies Unit 1; Computer Science Units 1 and 2; Economics Units 1 and 2; Environmental Science Units 1 and 2; Geography Unit 1; Information Technology Unit 1; Law Units 1 and 2; Literatures in English Unit 2; Management of Business Unit 1 and Unit 2; Physics Units 1 and 2; Sociology Units 1 and 2.
In five units, candidates obtained a pass rate of 50 percent or higher (but below 75%). These are: Pure Mathematics Units 1 and 2; Chemistry Unit 1; History Units 1 and 2.
According to the Education Ministry’s report, the analysis of the 2013 performance of public schools showed increases in the pass rates for The Bishops High, New Amsterdam Multilateral, Queen’s College and St. Roses when compared to 2012.
In addition, the overall pass percentages of St. Stanislaus College, St. Joseph High and Mackenzie High declined, while performance at President’s College remained relatively constant.
Performance at New Amsterdam Multilateral has been consistently improving (82.7 in 2011, 87.19 in 2012 and 89.04 in 2013), and there has been a notable increase in the pass percentage at St. Rose’s High (79.89 in 2012 as opposed to 87.03 in 2013).
Bishops’ High moved from 95.49 in 2012 to 98.19 in 2013; while Queen’s College moved from 86.62 in 2012 to 89.19 in 2013.