By Ravin Singh

GUYANA was this year able to record 100 per cent passes in 20 of 57 units offered at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), the Ministry of Education announced on Wednesday.Eight hundred and ninety-eight (898) candidates wrote the examinations, which were administered in May/June of this year. The overall pass rate was 86.74 per cent, which represents a marginal decrease from 2015, when an overall pass rate of 87.54 per cent was attained.

These disclosures were made during the official release of the results of CAPE and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) at the offices of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston, Georgetown.

The Education Ministry was keen to note that an increase was noted in the number of candidates securing Grades I and II passes. The gender distribution of the overall pass rate is 33.4 per cent males and 66.6 per cent females.

Candidates were offered units in 29 subject areas, and candidates from Guyana were offered 57 units at this year’s examination. And of these 57 units, candidates were able to obtain a 100 per cent pass rate (with Grade One to five) in 20 of those units.

The units are: Agricultural Science Unit 1; Art & Design Unit 1; Environmental Science Units 1 and 2; Food and Nutrition Unit 1; Spanish Unit 1; Entrepreneurship Units 1 and 2; Tourism Unit 1; Logistics & Supply Chain Operations Unit 1; Building & Mechanical Engineering Drawing (Mechanical) Unit 1; Applied Mathematics Unit 2; Economics Unit 2; Food & Nutrition Unit 2; Geography Unit 2; Literatures in English Unit 2; Spanish Unit 2; Physical Education & Sports Unit 2; Performing Arts (Cinematic Arts) Unit 2; Digital Media Unit 2.

Integrated Mathematics and Logistics and Supply Chain Operations were written for the first time this year, and the latter recorded a 100 per cent pass rate, while the former had a pass rate of 52.51 per cent.

Additionally, Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies continue to record over 95 per cent pass rate, while Pure Mathematics Unit 1 moved from 54.98 per cent in 2015 to 63.33 per cent in 2016.

In 30 units, the pass rate of candidates was 75% or higher, with Grade One to Five passes. These included Accounting Units 1 and 2; Applied Mathematics Unit 1; Caribbean Studies Unit 1; Communication Studies Unit 1; Computer Science Unit 1; Economics Unit 1; Geography Unit 1; History Unit 1; Information Technology Units 1 and 2; Law Units 1 and 2; Literatures in English Unit 1; Management of Business Units 1 and 2; Physics Units 1 and 2; Sociology Units 1 and 2; Digital Media Unit 1; Physical Education & Sports Unit 1; Building & Mechanical Engineering Drawing (Building) Unit 1; Agricultural Science Unit 2; Biology Unit 2; Chemistry Unit 2; Computer Science Unit 2; History Unit 2; Pure Mathematics Unit 2 and Tourism Unit 2.

In Biology Unit 1, Chemistry Unit 1, Pure Mathematics Unit 1 and Integrated Mathematics, candidates obtained a pass rate of 50 per cent or higher (but below 75 per cent) with Grades One to Five passes. On the other hand, the pass rate for Electrical & Electronic Technology Units 1 and 2 was below 50 per cent.

The results for the CAPE are reported on a seven-point scale, being from Grade 1 to Grade VII. Candidates attaining Grades 1 to V have attained an acceptable standard for matriculation purposes, with Grade One representing an excellent performance, while Grade Two and Three represent very good and good standards of performance respectively.

The examinations were written at 14 examination centres across four regions and in Georgetown.