In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the many challenges that have beset the education sector, Fayval Williams, minister of education, youth and information, says the results of this year’s Caribbean Examinations Council exams were satisfactory.

Students across the island sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in June and July.

According to Williams, who provided a preliminary analysis report of the exam results during a virtual press conference held on Tuesday (October 19), despite the challenges of the pandemic, students managed to perform well overall.

“I want to commend all the students, who persevered and did their examinations under very trying and challenging circumstances this year,” said Williams.

“I also want to encourage those who may not have done as well as they would have liked to, to look for opportunities that will contribute to improved performance.”

For CSEC, a total of 30,188 students from public schools were registered to sit the examination, of which 27,789 (92.1 per cent) sat papers across 34 subjects ranging from Agricultural Science to Principles of Accounts.

Of those students who registered and sat the exams, 23,760 or 85.8 per cent received Grades One, Two or Three in at least one subject.

Across the cohort of CSEC students in both public and private schools, there were 172,927 subject entries, of which 155,735 or 90 per cent were sat, while some 5,509 (three per cent) subject entries were deferred.

Six subjects had the highest percentage of students, who passed with Grades One, Two and Three.

These are Agricultural Science Double Award, 94.7 per cent; Agricultural Science Single Award, 87.1 per cent; Food, Nutrition and Health, 88.1 per cent; Information Technology, 85.6 per cent; Physical Education and Sport, 89.9 per cent; and Textiles, Clothing and Fashion, 86.8 per cent.

In the case of English Language, 73.3 per cent of students had a passing grade, while for Mathematics 38.2 per cent of students received a passing grade.

Speaking on the matter of the less than favourable Mathematics pass rate, Williams noted that the ministry will “need to make changes in their approach across the education system to help students raise their mathematics scores”.

Overall, Williams said in comparison to the 2020 results, there were improvements in seven subjects.

These subjects are Agricultural Science (Double Award), Human and Social Biology, Integrated Science, Music, Textiles, Clothing and Fashion, Theatre Arts and Visual Arts.

For CAPE, the results across the sixth-form cohort showed that of the 53,643 subject entries for Units One and Two, 48,702 were sat, with 88.8 per cent being awarded Grades One to Five.

Overall, 33,861 students sat CAPE Unit One, for which 88.3 per cent passed, while 14,841 sat CAPE Unit Two with 90 per cent passing.

Williams noted that, compared to the 2020 results, Accounting, Animation and Game Design, Chemistry, Entrepreneurship and Physical Education and Sport recorded improved performances.

Some 294 entries in all 34 subject areas for both Units were deferred.