The performance gap between our students and their Caribbean counterparts is narrowing

Aug 18, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Guyana has once again done well in terms of education attainment at the CSEC and the CAPE. For the second time in a row, a student from the Cinderella county of Essequibo has topped the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations, this time with a regional record of passes in twenty subjects which included eighteen distinctions and two credits.
This is indeed a stellar performance for which both the student and the school deserves high commendation. Interestingly, the second highest performer came from the same school, Anna Regina Multilateral school which is now ranked among the high performing schools in the country.
Sixteen-year old Zimeena Rasheed must be basking in the glory of her achievement which has done not only her parents and her school proud but the entire country for having created CXC history as the writer of the largest number of subjects written by any candidate at this level of the examination.
And as if to reinforce the point that the country’s top performer was not a chance occurrence, the country’s second top performer, Yogeeta Persaud also came from the Anna Regina Multilateral School which recorded several other outstanding performances.
Region Two came in the spotlight last year when Sarah Hack from Abrams Zuil Secondary School secured the top spot in the country at the CSEC examination by gaining Grade One passes in sixteen subjects which incidentally was the best performance in the exams not only in Guyana but the region as a whole.
Not to be outdone is Shalita Appadu from Presidents College who topped this years’ Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE)by obtaining passes in six subjects at Grade One and one subject at Grade Two. This is also an outstanding performance for which both student and school must be congratulated.
One noticeable feature is the examination spread which is indicative of a much better education delivery system. In the past, the high flyers came mainly from city schools. Today top students are emerging from schools in all regions of Guyana even though it has to be acknowledged that hinterland students are still at a disadvantage in terms of accessing CAPE and a better quality of education delivery at the various levels. Students who perform exceptionally well are afforded places at senior secondary schools in Georgetown but the numbers are limited despite additional dormitory facilities provided for by the government.
Another noticeable feature of the examinations is the fact that girls are outperforming boys which incidentally is not unique to Guyana but to the region as a whole. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is the higher levels of maturational development by girls during the critical examination periods and the absence of male role models in the classroom. Females outnumber males by far in the teaching cohorts at both the primary and secondary levels of the school system with males gradually becoming something of a dying species.
There can be no doubt that the overall performance of our Guyanese students is showing incremental improvements year after year. The performance gap between our students and their Caribbean counterparts is progressively narrowing even though passes in English Language and Mathematics continue to be a challenge, a situation not peculiar to Guyana but to most of the participating territories. It is a known fact that the assessment instruments for these two subjects are much more rigorous and exacting in order to maintain high matriculation standards for admission to institutions of higher learning and for entry into the public service.
In the health sector, significant advances are also being made in terms of health care delivery with an injection of scores of newly trained doctors in the health sector. Prior to the assumption to office of the current PPP/C administration, the number of registered doctors in the entire country was under a hundred. That number has more than quadrupled thanks to generous offers of scholarships by the Cuban Government, the vast majority of which were in the fields of medicine.
There has also been significant emphasis on the training of nurses both at the professional and technical levels which has tangibly increased the nurse/patient ratio, which along with the increased doctor/patient ratio should translate into better and more patient friendly health care delivery.
The government has been investing heavily in the development of social capital in keeping with its overarching long term policy of development with a human face. The current administration is serious about enhancing the quality of public service which admittedly leaves much to be desired due to unnecessary and at times uncaring bureaucracy. There is need for new and changing attitudes among public servants many of whom have not been living up to the high expectations which the public has of them.
Congratulations are in order for all those students who have excelled in this year’s CXC examinations and also for our returning doctors and professionals. The future of Guyana is in your hands.
Hydar Ally

 

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