GUYANA’S performance at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) 2021 examinations has seen improvements in science-related subjects as well as in Caribbean History, according to Chief Education Officer (CEO) Dr. Marcel Hutson.

Providing an analysis of the preliminary results announced on Friday, the CEO said that Guyana’s overall pass rate at the general and technical proficiencies stood at 66.36 per cent, with a total of 9,808 candidates having registered to sit the examinations.

“Improved performance was evident in four subjects and remained constant in six subjects. Outstanding performances were noted in eight subjects, where 90 per cent and over gained acceptable grades one to three,” Hutson said at the announcement ceremony.

Some of the subjects with outstanding performances, according to Hutson, were Agricultural Science (Double Award) with a pass rate of 93.14 per cent; Information Technology with 92.59 per cent passes; Physical Education and Sports with 99.28 per cent passes and Theatre Arts which secured a 100 per cent pass rate.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Even though Guyanese students have made significant strides in topping the examinations administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), there is still room for improvement, as Guyana’s performance in key subject areas such as English and Mathematics has declined.

“Grades one to three passes in English A declined from 77.76 per cent in 2020 to 67.72 per cent in 2021. However, the 2021 pass rate in English A was constant when compared to 2019 with a pass rate of 68 per cent,” Hutson noted.

English B, the CEO outlined, recorded a pass rate of 53.45 per cent in 2021, while Mathematics moved from a pass rate of 43 per cent in 2019 and 48.36 per cent in 2020 to 31.6 per cent in 2021. “Additional Mathematics recorded a pass rate of 58.87 per cent in 2021,” Hutson added.

Meanwhile, performances have declined in all the sciences except for Human and Social Biology, which showed increased performances in 2021, securing a pass rate of 73.24 per cent as against the 59.17 per cent passes recorded in 2020.

“Biology moved from 83.47 per cent in 2020 to 75.39 per cent in 2021. Chemistry recorded a pass rate of 60.94 per cent in 2021 as against the 71.6 per cent passes gained in 2020. Physics moved from a pass rate of 80.63 per cent in 2020 to 61.99 per cent in 2021. Integrated Science recorded a pass rate of 68.58 per cent in 2021 as against 79.75 per cent in 2020,” Hutson outlined in his report.

This year, pass rates for the CSEC Business subjects, including Office Administration and Electronic Documentation Preparation and Management (EDPM) recorded a decline.

“Principles of Accounts moved from 79.28 per cent in 2020 to 71.57 per cent in 2021. Economics recorded a pass rate of 66.88 per cent in 2021 as against 72.07 per cent in 2020. Office Administration’s pass rate showed a decline from 87 per cent in 2020 to 79.62 per cent in 2021.

IMPROVED PERFORMANCES
Meanwhile, subjects that fall within the spectrum of Humanities and Expressive Arts have, for the most part, remained constant, with improved performances being recorded in Caribbean History, which had a pass rate of 70.73 per cent in 2021 as against 64.49 per cent in 2020. However, this was not the case for Geography, which suffered a decline from 76.26 per cent in 2020 to 60.57 per cent in 2021.

Hutson said that Religious Education maintained a pass rate of 89.08 per cent, while Social Studies stood at 52.27 per cent passes in 2021.
Impressively, the 2021 performances in Theatre Arts recorded a full pass rate of 100 per cent, with visual arts taking a slight step back from 78.81 per cent in 2020 to 77.89 per cent in 2021. The same subject recorded a 71 per cent pass rate in 2019,

As for the Technical and Vocational Education cluster of subjects, those recorded pass rates of over 75 per cent. More specifically, Textiles, Clothing and Fashion recorded an improved performance of 93.11 per cent in 2021 as against 86.95 per cent in 2020. Food Nutrition and Health dropped back from 92.38 per cent in 2020 to 85.53 per cent in 2021. Family and Resource Management, according to Hutson, also moved from 86.37 per cent in 2020 to 75.81 per cent in 2021.

“Industrial Technology – Electrical recorded a pass rate of 90.12 per cent in 2021 and Industrial Technology – Building recorded a pass rate of 96.87 per cent in 2021,” the Chief Education Officer noted.

As it relates to the modern language subjects, French recorded a pass rate of 61.63 per cent in 2021 as against 77.61 per cent in 2020. And, Portuguese recorded a constant pass rate of 78.41 per cent in 2021, while Spanish moved from 66.62 per cent in 2020 to 56.27 per cent in 2021.

CEO Hutson gave a reminder that the students who sat these examinations were preparing to do so at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the closure of schools for almost an entire year.