Education Minister Andrew Holness is today expected to make a statement on the circumstances surrounding the delay in some students getting their Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results.

The delay of the results has been preventing some students from registering for courses at institutions across the island.

"I have received a preliminary report on it and I am getting a full report on Friday and then I will send out a release," Holness told reporters yesterday, following the Rotary Club of Kingston's weekly luncheon, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean Examinations Council this week reported that candidates' performance in the science subjects offered for CSEC examinations throughout the region improved this year when compared with performance in 2007.

Improvement

Agricultural Science (Single Award) and Physics showed the most significant improvement in performance with a 27 per cent and 26 per cent increase respectively when compared with the performance last year.

Eighty-four per cent of entries for agricultural science achieved grades one to three (pass marks) compared with 57 per cent in 2007. For physics, 77 per cent of the entries achieved grades one to three, compared with 51 per cent last year.

Human and social biology saw a 17 per cent improvement in performance when compared with last year. This year, 68 per cent of entries achieved grades one to three compared with 51 per cent last year.

CXC reported that chemistry and integrated science recorded a four per cent improvement over 2007. Sixty-eight per cent of entries for chemistry achieved grades one to three, compared with 64 per cent last year while, for integrated science, 85 per cent of entries achieved acceptable grades compared with 81 per cent last year.