Minister satisfied with CSEC results

Aug 22, 2008 News

— chides CXC body for delayed delivery

Education Minister Shaik Baksh at a press conference yesterday said that he is satisfied with the results of this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination but expressed some disappointment that there was some delay in the availability of the results to the local Ministry.

The Minister said that he is very unhappy about the time it took for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) to make the results available, adding that he is aware that some other Caribbean countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, were in receipt of their results since Monday.

And according to the Minister, the Ministry will not take the delay lightly.

“We intend to write the Registrar and the Chairman of the Caribbean Examination Council on this matter…As I speak we have not received the individual results slips of the candidates and so we cannot give the candidates their results slips.”

The Minister disclosed that as far as he knows the slips are in transit through DHL. He said that he was personally in contact with one of the CXC’s Assistant Registrars yesterday to whom he expressed concern over the matter.

According to the Minister, “CXC will have to get their act together…I am dissatisfied in the case of Guyana that they have not performed proficiently.”

As a result, the Minister said that students may not be able to uplift their results slips until Monday, even as he expressed optimism that there is not a repeat of the problem next year.

At the press conference, too, the Minister disclosed the names of 16 of the top students but noted that he could not make any pronouncement on the top candidate, adding that such a determination will have to be made by the CXC body.

Minister Baksh pointed out though that of the more than 9,000 candidates from both private and public institutions, the top 87 were drawn from Regions Two, Three, Four, Six, 10 and the district of Georgetown.

In Region Two, he divulged that six students are from the Anna Regina Multilateral, and three from Abrams’ Zuil Secondary.

Two of the top students emanated from the West Demerara Secondary, one from Zeeburg Secondary and seven are from the Saraswati Vidya Nikitan, all in the Region Three district.

President’s College in Region Four accounted for three of the top students while two were drawn from New Amsterdam Multilateral and one from Skeldon Line Path in Region Six.

McKenzie High in Region 10 produced one of the top performers, while the district of Georgetown saw 33 coming from Queen’s College, 17 from Bishop’s High, five from Saint Stanislaus’ College, four from the New Guyana School and one each from the Marian Academy and St. Rose’s High.

And based on the preliminary results of the examination, the Minister said that there was an evident increase in the number of candidates who participated as well as the number of subject entries.

He disclosed that the pass rate this year in most subject areas is satisfactory.