THOSE EXAMINATIONS

Aug 18, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – I am wondering just how they do it. Either these kids today are sharper and brighter than what we produced in the past or the examinations are becoming easier.

I am in no position to say since I have not analysed the content of the examinations so as to make a judgment as to which period there were more difficult examinations.

I am also unable at this time to make a comparison between the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examinations which originate in London and those of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

What I do know is that the students of today who are writing 19 and 20 subjects at the ‘O’ levels as compared to seven and eight subjects two or three decades ago, have a wider choice of subjects and this in itself provides some cushion for them.

I have seen for example a host of subject areas such as information technology and computer science which were not offered in the past, and which allow present day students to write these high levels of examinations.

I am not trying to take away anything from the success of these students but I do hope that there are no tradeoffs between the number of subjects written and the quality of the students that are being produced.
To me it is simply amazing to comprehend so many students passing so many subjects at one sitting.

Of course as with other examinations, the results of the top performers do not reflect the overall passes of all those who sat the examination. For every student that excels, there will be 10 others that have not made the grade.

It is also noticeable that despite the fact the top performers at these examinations have been chalking up in excess of 10 passes, most employers still ask for a mere four or five subjects at one sitting or six at two sitting; the same thing also prevails for entry into tertiary educational institutions such as the University of Guyana.

This is the best indicator, short of the Ministry of Education providing data as to the average number of subjects passed per student, that the average passes per student per sitting is less than half of what the top performers achieve.

This column has always insisted that the Ministry of Education should publish the total number of students that sat five or more subjects at each sitting of these examinations and should indicate just how many of these secured passes in five or more subjects at the three top grades.

The issue of the grading in respect to the CXC examinations also still befuddles me. We now have the possibility of student gaining a Grade 1 at the CXC but this may not necessarily be with a distinction. In the past when one spoke of a Grade 1, thus automatically was presumed to be a distinction.

I believe that this situation should be remedied by the Caribbean Examinations Council which should direct that a Grade 1 be a pass with distinction and a Grade 2 be a pass with credit and a Grade 3, a general pass.
There is no such problem with the GCE examinations. An “A” in those examinations refers to a distinction.

This is something that the Ministry of Labour should closely examine since if we are moving closer to international standards, we need to ensure that the grading schemes of the respective examinations that our students do are standardised so that both a Grade 1 and an “A” refer to a distinction.

Representation needs to be made to the Caribbean Examinations Council to have this situation with its various Grade 1s rectified to a single Grade 1 which should indicate a pass with a distinction.

To hear about someone passing, obtaining eight Grade 1s with four distinctions, is all too confusing, and will pose problems for employers in the labour market.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)