GUYANA has topped in 20 of the 33 subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations being offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

At an official ceremony hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Thursday, Dr. Nicole Manning, Director of Operations at CXC, gave a detailed breakdown of the results, in which she said that Guyana has outperformed the rest of the region.

However, in her presentation, Dr Manning divulged the average pass rates for only 12 subjects in comparison to the pass rates obtained by Guyana in those subjects she mentioned.

In her presentation, which was streamed live across the region, Dr. Manning said the 2021 examinations were plagued by high levels of absenteeism as well as requests for deferrals.

She outlined that performance in English A recorded a 74 per cent pass rate, which represents a decline when compared to 2020 and 2019, but an increase from the 2018 results. In this instance, Guyana’s grades fell below the regional average at 68 per cent.

Similarly, examination grades for English B also suffered an overall decline, recording a 61 per cent regional pass rate, while Guyana’s stood at 54 per cent.

Dr. Manning indicated that only nine per cent of those who wrote the CSEC English B attained a grade one. This represents a 10 per cent decline when compared to the 19 per cent recorded in 2020.

As it relates to Integrated Science, the regional average showed an increase from 62 per cent in 2019 to 66 per cent in 2021. This was below Guyana’s average pass rate of 69 per cent.

Guyana also recorded a solid 93 per cent pass rate in Biology, while the average for the rest of the region remained at 89 per cent. This, according to Dr. Manning, is a consistent average, as Biology, over the past few years, has recorded pass rates in the early 90-percentiles.

Chemistry, on the other hand, declined slightly, recording a regional average of 63 per cent, while Guyana recorded 61 per cent.
Another decline was recorded in Physics, which had a regional pass rate of 66 per cent, as compared to Guyana’s 62 per cent. In 2019, the regional average was pegged at 73 per cent.

Dr. Manning admitted that while not outlined in her presentation, Guyana had improved results in the area of CSEC Mathematics. She said that the change to reflect the true figures will be made publicly, but overall, she said that there has been a general decline in the subject area across the region. The records show that for 2021, CSEC candidates had more grade ones as compared to 2019 but less compared to 2018.

In the area of Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM), the regional pass rate stood at 87 per cent, while Guyana attained 88 per cent passes.

Human and Social Biology, according to Dr. Manning, recorded improvement, moving from 62 per cent in 2020 to 68 per cent in 2021. In this subject area, Guyana’s pass rate was at 77 per cent. “That’s a significant jump,” Dr. Manning opined.

She went on to point out that examination results for Principles of Business (PoB) declined with the region achieving a 79 per cent pass rate as compared to the 82 per cent recorded in 2018 and 2019. Guyana’s PoB pass rate was 75 per cent.

As for Social Studies, this saw a slight decline across the board, with a regional pass rate of 54 per cent, while Guyana’s pass rate was 53 per cent.
Grades recorded for Information Technology (IT) remained consistent across the region with an 89 per cent pass rate as compared to the 93 per cent recorded in Guyana. “That’s five per cent more than the region,” Dr. Manning emphasised.

She said that performances for Office Administration showed a decline, recording a 79 per cent pass rate regionally, and an 80 per cent pass rate in Guyana. “Overall, Guyana’s performance would have been better than the region,” Dr. Manning said as she wrapped up her presentation.

Meanwhile, reflecting on the results of the examinations, Guyana’s Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, said that with the protracted closure of schools, authorities had to contend with a range of issues that affected students and teachers, stemming from poor diets and food insecurities to reduced physical activities and numerous psychosocial and personal challenges.

She said that considerable emphasis must be placed on both preserving and expanding school capacities to be safe havens to provide the nurturing and care which children may need.

“Days of operating in respective silos must come to an end and our best practices, and lessons learned can serve to make the Caribbean education a true reflection of the concepts underpinning the creation and sustainability of CXC,” Minister Manickchand said.
She also spoke of an inaugural CXC Ministers’ Summit which is planned for November of this year.

“As we revamp, retool and recover sustainably from our recent and ongoing challenges, we must do so armed and assured of the support of sister territories,” Minister Manickchand surmised.