Another local candidate aims for 20 CSEC subjects

May 09, 2014 News

— as Regional exams get underway

In light of the fact that there has been no move to institute subject limits, Guyana has again enlisted, among its candidates, one who will be undertaking 20 subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Council (CSEC) examination. This feat was for the first time undertaken last year by Anna Regina Multilateral School student, Zimeena Rasheed. Her colleague, Yogeeta Persaud, was enlisted to write 18 subjects.
With close to 14,000 candidates participating in the CSEC exams this year, it is anticipated that Guyana will again be made proud when the results are unveiled.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Education yesterday, 13,721 candidates have been enlisted to sit the examinations. Of the total lot, 12,366 are slated to write Mathematics and 11,484 are expected to write English.
Like last year, one candidate is prepared to undertake 20 subjects, two candidates will be pursuing successes in 19 subjects, four candidates 18 subjects, 16 candidates 17, 18 candidates 16 subjects, while 2,500 are set to pursue between seven and eight subjects.
The CSEC subjects, which are delivered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), are examined for certification at the General and Technical Proficiencies, which provide students with the foundation for further studies and entry to the workplace.
In order to ascertain each individual candidate’s performance, CXC uses a six-point grading scheme, which is used to report on the performance of the candidate under six overall and profile grades which fall under ‘Overall grades’ and ‘Profile Grades’. The ‘Overall Grades’ are classified as I, II, III, IV, V, VI while the ‘Profile Grades’ are A, B, C, D, E and F.
Like the Ministry of Education, CXC is certainly not opposed to students writing as many as 20 subjects. This is according to CXC Registrar, Dr Didacus Jules, who during an interview with this publication, disclosed that while he is aware of calls being made to limit the number of subjects candidates write at CSEC, the matter has not come up for deliberation at the level of CXC.
“We don’t consider it to be a matter under CXC’s purview; this is a matter for parents, the schools and ultimately the Ministry,” said Dr Jules.
However, he said, “our view on it is that you should not put a limit on people’s capacity; whatever subject you feel you can do you ought to be allowed to do.”
The CXC Registrar underscored that one factor that must remain clear is that the number of subjects that are undertaken does not determine whether a candidate is able to secure the status of top regional performer. “That is the bottom line,” Dr Jules asserted.
This state of affairs was particularly evident when CXC announced the top performers of the Region last year.
Although Zimeena Rasheed was the candidate with the most CSEC passes – 18 grade ones and two grade twos – it was her colleague, Yogeeta Persaud, with 18 grade one passes who was declared the top Regional Performer. Rasheed was however named the best performing candidate in Technical Vocation.
Guyana also secured the top Regional performing spots in the areas of Business, Science and Humanities through the performances of Sasha Woodroffe, Cecil Cox and Rafena Mustapha respectively. This allowed for Guyana to secure five of the eight top performing awards offered by CXC in 2013.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand had disclosed too that while her Ministry has not been actively encouraging students to write many subjects, capable students will not be dissuaded from doing so. She however noted that the Ministry has in place a clear policy which outlines that in order for students to undertake more than 10 subjects at CSEC they must “show remarkable competence.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry has reported that 795 candidates have enlisted to sit the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) this year. The highest subject entries are Caribbean Studies with a total of 365 entries and Communication Studies with 400 entries.
CAPE is designed to provide certification of the academic, vocational and technical achievement of students in the Caribbean who, having completed a minimum of five years of secondary education, wish to further their studies.
The sitting of the two Regional examinations (CSEC and CAPE) commenced on May 5 and are expected to conclude on June 13.

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Another local candidate aims for 20 CSEC subjects

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