Omar Anderson, Staff ReporterSTUDENTS FROM Westwood High in Trelawny and Immaculate Conception High and Campion College in St. Andrew topped the 2001 Caribbean Examination Council's English language and mathematics examinations.
A study of last year's CXC results by the National Council on Education (NCE) showed that these three schools performed "extremely well" in the two core subjects.
According to the 2001 Per-
formance of Jamaican Students in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), of 109 Westwood students who sat CXC English, 107 of them received grades one to three, representing a 98 per cent pass rate.
However, it was Immaculate Conception High with 158, which recorded the highest number of students receiving grade one passes. Immaculate also had a 98 per cent pass rate, with 211 of its 215 students passing CXC English.
The two schools were classified under the secondary high schools sections.
Wolmer's Girls in Kingston also did well in English language, gaining a 97 per cent pass rate. Of 172 students at the school who sat the exam, 167 of them received grade one-three passes.
Bishop Gibson High in Manchester also did very well in English language, recording 94 per cent passes. Of the school's 106 students sitting the exam, 100 of them passed including 44 distinctions.
Recently upgraded high schools were not to be left out of the good pass rates in English language last year. In fact, some of these schools out-performed their traditional counterparts.
High praises were in order for Oracabessa High in St. Mary, Ocho Rios High in St. Ann, Winston Jones High in Manchester and Glengoffe High in St. Catherine, which recorded pass rates of 64 per cent, 66 per cent, 71 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively.
In the technical high school category, Herbert Morrison Technical in St. James scored a 64 per cent pass rate, with 208 of its 323 students passing English language.
Regarding the performances of schools in CXC maths last year, Education Minister, Burchell Whiteman, had expressed concerns over the low pass rates. Last September, during a press conference at his National Heroes Circle office in Kingston, Mr. Whiteman said Jamaica scored a 30.3 per cent pass rate last year in mathematics compared to last year's 37.4 per cent, marking a 7.1 per cent decline.
The Education Minister added then that the Caribbean registered a 32.1 per cent pass rate in mathematics this year, compared to a 39.2 per cent high last year, signs which he said were matters of serious concern.
A closer look at Jamaica's performance in mathematics last year showed that Campion College had the best results with a 98 per cent pass rate. Of the schools, 205 candidates who sat the exam, 200 of them passed. Some 116 of the successful candidates got distinctions - by far, the most distinctions recorded last year by a local school.
Following Campion was Immaculate, which scored an 82 per cent pass rate, thereby getting the double honour of performing well in both core subjects. Of its 216 students sitting maths, 177 of them received grades one to three passes. Forty-six of the successful Immaculate students received grade one passes.
St. Andrew High and St. Hugh's High in Kingston recorded respective pass rates of 62 and 60 per cent.
In the upgraded high school category, Kingston High, Buff Bay High in Portland, Oracabessa High in St. Mary, and Denbigh High in Clarendon received reasonably good passes, when their status is taken into consideration. In that category, Denbigh High recorded the highest pass rate with 42 per cent.
In the technical high schools category, St. Thomas Technical outperformed the other schools in this group with a 45 per cent maths pass rate. Of the schools 45 students sitting the exam, 15 of them passed, with most of them getting grade three passes.
