Region Registers Declines In CXC Mathematics And English Pass Rates

(JAMAICA GLEANER) – Fewer students received passing grades in this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) mathematics and English language exams when compared with last year.

This is based on data released by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Tuesday on the performance of students in the May/June 2024 exams.

Only 36 per cent of students across the region received passing grades for mathematics, a seven percentage point decrease when compared with last year.

CXC director of operations, Dr Nicole Manning, presented the results at a ceremony hosted in Dominica.

“This is a sour point for us…,” Manning said. “As we do the analysis and this is something each territory has to look at… in some territories you are going to find an improvement, of course, and in some territories it would not have been looking so wonderful. However,  we need to get out of this rut,” she said.

Meanwhile, 76 per cent of students who sat English A received grades one to three, a two percentage point decrease when compared with last year.

Pass rates for other subjects:

Caribbean History- 72%

French- 57%

Human and Social Biology- 80%

Biology – 76%

Chemistry – 64%

Physics – 72%

Principles of Business- 80%

Social Studies- 62%

Spanish- 50%

Information Technology- 81%

Integrated Science- 58%

In the meantime, there were consistently high pass rates in the core subjects of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Some 95 per cent of students received passing grades in Caribbean Studies, representing a two percentage point decrease over last year.

Similarly, 95 per cent of students who sat Communication Studies received passing grades, a three percentage point increase compared with last year.

Here’s how students performed in other subjects:

Biology Unit 1- 84%

Biology Unit 2- 91%

French Unit 1- 95%

French Unit 2- 100%

Physics Unit 1- 97%

Physics Unit 2- 97%

Information Technology Unit 1- 95%

Information Technology Unit 2- 96%

Pure Mathematics Unit 1- 86%

Pure Mathematics Unit 2- 94%

Integrated Mathematics- 73%

Literatures in English Unit 1-94%

Literatures in English Unit 2- 95%

“These qualifications are more than just the results they receive today, I want to point out that we are aiming strategically to equip the human capital of the region for entrepreneurial ventures for employment, further education. And as I’m saying, it’s more than qualification, but a future for the pathway of our candidate,” Manning said.