Caribbean-wide decline in CSEC, CAPE passes

Aug 21, 2024 News

Dr Nicole Manning, Director of Operations, Examination Services Division, CXC delivering preliminary results

– math moved from 43% to 36%

Kaieteur News – The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) on Tuesday announced that there was a regional decline of the overall pass rate for both the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).

This announcement was made during the official release of the preliminary results in Dominica.

During the opening ceremony, Octavia Alfred, Minister of Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence of Dominica delivered the feature address. Remarks were delivered by Robert Guiste, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Dr. Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO of CXC.

Dr Nicole Manning, Director of Operations, Examination Services Division, CXC, delivered a presentation on the 2024 Examination Administration and Results.

Manning announced that the overall regional performance for CAPE was 92.19 %, which she describes as a “slight reduction” from previous year, 2023. For CSEC, there was an overall performance of 69%, slightly consistent to 2023.

Dr. Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO of CXC

The CAPE grades from one to five are considered acceptable by CXC. Some preliminary results presented, showed a decrease in acceptable grades in six main subjects. Notably, Biology units one and two saw a drop, with unit one decreasing from 88% in 2023 to 84% this year. Caribbean Studies and Literatures in English both experienced reductions from 97% in 2023 to 95% in 2024. Physics unit one fell by 1%, from 98% in 2023 to 97% in 2024. Pure Mathematics unit one saw a significant decrease from 93% in 2023 to 86% in 2024.

For CSEC, grades one to three are deemed acceptable. Preliminary results revealed a significant decline in seven subjects. Chemistry saw a 3% decrease, from 67% in 2023 to 64% in 2024. English A dropped by 2%, from 78% to 76%, while French decreased by 1%. Information Technology fell from 86% in 2023 to 81% in 2024. Integrated Science experienced a decline from 67% to 58%. Mathematics saw a significant drop from 43% in 2023 to 36%, with most candidates achieving grade three. Principles of Accounts fell from 72% in 2023 to 67% in 2024.

Manning highlighted several factors contributing to this year’s academic decline. These include an increase in the number of CAPE subject entries and candidates—26,436 in total—while CSEC saw a reduction in subject entries but an increase in candidate entries to 116,232. There was also a rise in absenteeism, with a 5% increase for CAPE and a 7% increase for CSEC. Additionally, there were more reported irregularities and hardships during the exams.

Dr Wesley Registrar and CEO of CXC in his remarks stated that this year the performance in mathematics is a bit lower than last year. “When we did further analysis we recognised that when we made the restriction of five subjects including mathematics and English that [mathematics and English) dropped to 4.9%, what that tells us is that from 2018 to now, every year we have been losing almost 11,500 students on average who will not fully matriculate into university because they need maths and English… if you don’t have maths and English employers will pay you less,” he said. Wesley highlighted that the ongoing decline in math and English performance could negatively impact the Caribbean’s economic competitiveness by reducing the number of students capable of driving innovation and critical thinking. “You have less students being able to drive the innovation that is required for the economy to advance and for critical thinking and problem solving and for attitudes to be developed. We are in a very challenging time that we need to give greater attention to mathematics and English,” Wesley stated.

To address these challenges, CXC is working on initiatives to improve teaching and learning in Mathematics and English. Wesley mentioned that a team has been commissioned to develop standards for literacy and numeracy, incorporating Artificial Intelligence to enhance educational outcomes.

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CXC, Director of Operations, Dr Nicole Manning, Dr. Wayne Wesley, Examination Services Division, Registrar and CEO of CXC

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