Carty while speaking on the performance of students for the June 2012 Caribbean Examinations outlined that the pass rate for English was 58.3%, down from 83% in 2011 which he indicated “must be loudly registered,” and adds that his ministry will seek to rectify the situation.
He also expressed concerns of the performance in Mathematics which is said to be on an alarming decline throughout the Caribbean that led the council to provide some guidelines for the improvement of the teaching and learning of the subject.
Carty added that the ministry is not satisfied with the students’ performance in the CSEC Mathematics examination despite the pass rate in the subject for 2012 was 47.1% and held relatively constant over the past three years and exceeded the regional pass rate of 33% by some 14 percentage points.
“This does not give us any comfort, but some measure of hope that we can in fact do much better in the future,” the Minister of Education said.
He also said that over the last three years, there has been gradual and steady improvement History, English Literature, Technical Drawing and Visual Arts subject areas.
The Ministry is also quite that the following subjects have turned out 100% pass rates: Building and Construction Technology, Clothing and Textile, Mechanical Engineering and Physical Education & Sports.
Pass rates of 90% and above were additionally realized in Agricultural Science, Biology, Economics, Electrical & Electronic Technology, Food & Nutrition, French, Home Economics, Office Administration, Physics, Principles of Business and Technical Drawing. School Departments responsible for these subjects ought to be highly commended for this outstanding achievement.
The total number of candidates registered across all schools for CSEC Examinations was 672. Exams were written in 32 subjects across all schools in both Nevis and St. Kitts.
There were 3, 947 subject entries with 3,078 entries returning passing grades for a national average pass rate at CSEC for 2012 of 78%, which Carty explained equals the average pass rate over the three preceding years.
Carty also commended the Charlestown Secondary School and the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College for achieving a pass rate of 81.5% and 83.8% respectively in their CAPE Examinations.