Better results

Naparima Boys College principal, Dev Gosein, said results at his school for both CSEC and CAPE were “outstanding”, while San Fernando Central Secondary School principal, Farial Ali, spoke of a “vast improvement” at both levels of exam.

We also recall the CSEC success of two pupils in Guyana – Zimeena Rasheed – who earned 20 passes at CSEC, and her schoolmate – Yogeeta Persaud – who got 18 passes, all subjects at grade one for each pupil, and mostly distinctions.

All this is very good news indeed for the youth of the nation and the region at a time when the youngsters have been in the public eye for negative reasons, given several tragic murders of teenagers in East Port-of-Spain by feuding gangs.

The success at CAPE and CSEC lifts the nation just as do the efforts of the youthful Jehue Gordon in winning gold for Trinidad and Tobago in the 400 metres hurdles at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday.

We hope the CAPE and CSEC successes provide these pupils with a bridge to a bright future for each of them, and serve to encourage younger pupils to aim high, with this news coming a fortnight or so before the new school year opens.

The anecdotal good news reported by four schools in south Trinidad was somewhat confirmed by a CXC statement, “Improved performance at CSEC”.

CXC reported over 65 percent of subject entries achieved a pass, described as “acceptable grades from grade I to grade III”, an improvement from some 62 percent last year.

CXC said, “This year performance improved on 21 of the 35 subjects offered, including the two English and two Mathematics subjects”.

In our view the most welcomed a improvement of results occurred in the pass rate for English A (English Language) exam – a subject mandatory to many job applications – which moved from 47 percent last year to 57 percent this year.

So while only a minority of pupils passed English A last year, this year a majority passed.

However while the CXC statement spoke of a slight improvement in the number of pupils passing CSEC Math, we are thoroughly dissatisfied by these results. The CXC said, “Performance remained below average with 35 percent of entries achieving acceptable grades, compared to 33 percent last year.”

We lament that if only 35 percent of Caribbean pupils can pass CSEC Math, this means two-thirds are failing. We say this is a crisis. Sadly this shortfall has been seen over the past five years or more of results posted on the CXC website. Some analysis is needed as to why pupils are consistently failing CSEC Math, and what effects this may have on their job prospects where along with English A, Math is often a required subject.

Perhaps some inspirational guidelines could be drawn from this year’s success stories. Speaking to principals and pupils, the Newsday story attributed exam success to a controlled balance of study and recreation. Pupils studied hard but also engaged in constructive extra-curricular activities. “We stress the need for proper time management,” said Gosein. “We encourage students to do the things they like, and the academics would fall into place.” The story also reported that successful pupils were able to curb and control the amount of time spent in leisure on the Internet including social networking sites such as Facebook.

We’d suggest these secrets of success be duly noted and be emulated by others wishing to also enjoy the sweet taste of examination success in years to come.