- Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photographer
At left, co-presenter Betty-Ann Jones (left) presents principal of Campion College Radley Reid (right) with the trophy for the school with the overall best results in the 2003 CSEC examinations, while, at right, Sister Mary Catherine Aarons, principal of Immaculate Conception High, accepts the trophy for the best overall results in the 2003 CAPE examinations. The presentation took place recently at the National CSEC/CAPE Awards ceremony at the Merl Grove High School, St. Andrew.Paul Brett, Gleaner Writer
DR. LUCY Steward, the Caribbean Examination Council's (CXC's)registrar, is concerned that, each year, fewer Caribbean students are sitting the regional secondary school examinations.
"We recognise that the number of persons in secondary school and the number that sit the CXC exams every year is far less than the total population of persons within the 15-17 age group across the region," she said on the weekend as she addressed a national awards ceremony for high achievers held recently at the Merl Grove High School in St. Andrew.
She was speaking against the background of the challenges being faced by the CXC headquarters to establish equity and greater access to the exams for all pupils in the region.
EQUAL ACCESS
"While both boys and girls have equal access, there is significant disparity in the participation rates and achievement at the secondary level," Dr. Steward said.
The largest number of students sitting the examinations are from Jamaica. In 2003, 58,403 candidates from Jamaica registered for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and 5,306 for the Caribbean Advanced Profic-iency Examinations (CAPE). Dr. Steward pointed out that in Jamaica, 35 per cent of boys sit the CSEC examinations, reflecting more or less the situation across the Caribbean as 38 and 40 per cent of boys in Barbados and Trinidad/Tobago respectively sit this examination.
Given the need to address the ongoing concerns regarding equity and access, the CXC registrar said governments are developing national curricula and examinations to meet the needs of a wide range of abilities.
She pledged to provide assistance to territories in these national initiatives to deal with issues such as quality of programmes, improving teacher competence and resource materials and also the validity of the exams and currency of certification.
HARMONISATION
"This is especially important now to facilitate harmonisation and articulation in the education sector and the need for our young people to gain certification that will enable them to be competitive at regional and international levels," Dr. Steward said.
At the awards ceremony, over 300 pupils from a cross-section of the island's secondary and high schools were acknowledged for their outstanding performance in the 2003 CXC examinations. Pupils were acknowledged in separate categories CSEC and CAPE. The top award for the school with the highest overall achievement in the CAPE went to Immaculate Conception High and Campion College took home the award for overall outstanding performance in the CSEC.
