THE Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) examinations have commenced in an environment of the COVID-19 pandemic which has had, over the past year, a disruptive effect on classroom teaching. The examinations are administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), which was established in 1972 under agreement by the participating governments in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The Education Ministry, in an effort to minimise the effect of such disruption, has implemented new and innovative methods of education delivery. These include the use of information and communication technologies, in conjunction with limited face-to-face teaching.

The Ministry of Education must be commended for having risen to the challenge, and successfully put in place the necessary arrangements to ensure that our students are not only adequately prepared to sit the examinations, but that they do so in a safe and COVID-free environment.

According to Education Minister Priya Manickchand, students are expected to do well at both the CSEC and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

These examinations mean a lot to our students, as they represent the culmination of five years of secondary schooling, in the case of the CSEC examinations, and an additional two years of preparation for the CAPE examinations. Performance at these examinations is crucial, and could have a defining impact on the future academic and professional development of students.

The number of students now sitting for the examinations has increased significantly, due to a policy decision taken by the PPP/C administration to convert Community High Schools into discrete secondary schools. Several primary tops have been merged with the then Community High Schools, and are now preparing students who otherwise would not have had an opportunity to sit the CSEC examinations.

Not only are more students sitting the CSEC examinations, but the overall performance of our Guyanese students is much better today, compared to under the previous PNC regime. The performance back then placed Guyana as the worst performing country in the entire Caribbean. That performance deficit has now been largely corrected, thanks to several policy interventions by the PPP/C administration, especially in the critical areas of teacher training, curricula reform and infrastructural development, which, cumulatively, have impacted positively on the delivery of quality education at all levels of the education pyramid.

Only recently, the World Bank approved US$ 3.5 million in additional financing to improve education in the country. The financing is earmarked to further enhance the delivery of secondary education in the country, specifically the teaching of mathematics, increase enrolment in secondary schools, the provision of equipment and training to support innovative technology-assisted learning. The funding will also be used to complete construction of two secondary schools, supply resources to those schools, and the construction of a new secondary school. The new financing will support the pilot of a “smart classroom” initiative to better respond to the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall, the education sector, in general, and secondary education in particular are expected to see significant improvements with the injection of additional financing by the World Bank.

The PPP/C administration has done well, in terms of the democratisation of education in the country, and making quality education much more accessible to students in all parts of the country, especially in the hinterland regions, which, historically, had been neglected by the previous PNC administrations.