The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) 2013 exam results show notable decline in grades...

National exam results worsen

Math, English scores decline

By Taneka Thompson
Guardian Senior Reporter
taneka@nasguard.com

Math and English test scores for the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams fell this year compared to 2012, according to data released by the Ministry of Education yesterday.

The average math grade is an E and the average English grade is a D.

The subjects are among 16 that showed a decline in grade point average (GPA) scores.

Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald said he is not satisfied with students’ declining scores, particularly in Math.

While the 2013 BGCSE English score remained at a D letter grade the subject saw a decline in GPA.

BGCSE math scores fell from E+ to E.

“We are concerned about the results in mathematics examinations,” Fitzgerald said at a press conference at the Ministry of Education.

“Our focus, we feel, or I feel to a large extent, has been on literacy. And as a result we have continued to see a steady increase in our English language results.

“In the Department of Education we must accept some responsibility for the deficiencies in our mathematics results and our ministry’s failure to implement required strategies to improve not only teaching but also our results in this area.”

Only 996 out of 7,140 students who took the BGCSE exams — or 13.9 percent — scored a C or above in five or more subjects.

This is a 5.17 percent increase compared to the 947 students who achieved this in the 2012 BGCSEs.

This year, 1,626 candidates got at least a D in five or more subjects. This is an increase of 2.01 percent over 2012, which saw 1,594 students achieve this.

The ministry’s report on the exams noted that 561 students got at least a C or above in English, math and a science subject.

This is a 4.75 percent decrease compared to 2012, which saw 589 students meet this achievement.

The data shows that the highest percentage of overall grades awarded — 28.76 — were in the C category. The results show that 7,776 C grades were scored.

“A cumulative percentage of grades awarded to A and C is slightly higher than 2012 where it increased from 47.76 percent to 48.57 percent,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said there is a concern over the increase in the number of grades awarded at the G and U level.

The total number of G grades given for the 2013 BGCSEs were 1,357 compared to 1,238 last year. Students received 931 U grades this year compared to 747 in 2012.

The ministry’s data shows that 11 subjects saw improvement in grade point average scores: biology; chemistry; commerce; economics; food and nutrition; history; music; office procedures; religious studies; Spanish and keyboarding.

Four subjects improved by a letter grade compared to 2012 scores: commerce rose to C- from D+; history rose to C from C-; music rose to C+ from C and religious studies rose to C from C-.

The data shows that out of the 27 subjects offered, 16 subjects saw a decrease in grade point average compared to 2012.

These are math; physics; English; French; geography; graphical communication; literature; art & design A; art & design B; art & design C; auto mechanics; bookkeeping/accounts; carpentry & joinery; clothing construction; combined science; and electrical installation.

Twelve subjects fell by a letter grade compared to last year: art & design A dropped to C from C+; art & design B fell to C+ from B-; art & design C fell to C- from C; auto mechanics fell to C- from C+; accounts fell to E+ from D; carpentry fell to C- from C.

Clothing construction fell to D from D+; combined science fell to D+ from C-; electrical installation fell to D from D+; French fell C- from C; graphical communication fell to C- from C and math fell to E from E+.

The ministry stopped issuing a national average four years ago. Officials said such a score did not accurately reflect test results because every student does not sit the same exams.

Fitzgerald said the ministry is focused on subject analysis based on test scores.

August 16, 2013

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Each year the results of the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) reveal the problem with boys in The Bahamas' education system

Education system failing our boys

thenassauguardian editorial

During a speech in March, College of The Bahamas (COB) president Dr. Betsy Vogel-Boze told the Zonta Club that only 14 percent of COB graduates are male.

"It is not a problem that happens once they get to us.  They are not graduating at the same rates, they are not applying for college at the same rates and that gap continues to widen," she said.

The head of COB is right.  Each year the results of the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) reveal the problem with boys in the education system.

In 2010, girls received 16,233 grades; boys received 10,683 grades.  Boys are only receiving 39.7 percent of the grades issued at the senior exams.

The boys receive fewer grades because fewer of them are there at graduation.  Our boys are dropping out in large numbers.

What is even sadder is that the boys who stay in school long enough to do their final exams are doing poorly. 

For A through C grades at the 2010 BGCSE's, girls received about double the number of these grades than boys.  Our education system is failing.  It is particularly failing our boys.

There is without question a correlation between education systems that fail boys and high crime rates.  Young men unable to function in a modern economy will not simply sit down and starve to death.

The Bahamas has set three homicide records in four years and it is on pace to shatter the dubious record set last year.  Police have also been battling a surge in recent years in armed robberies and property crimes such as house-breakings.

Our crisis is not just a crime crisis.  It is a crisis of integrating young men into the legal economy and into civil society.  A national effort is required to help our boys.  One part of the strategy to help them may be to separate the genders in the public education system.

Environments need to be created to help young men, collectively, to equate masculinity with honest work, achievement and struggle.  As we fail our boys in the current education system they go off into the underworld economy of drugs and violence.

The reformatory schools also need to be expanded.  Those who cannot behave should not be allowed to remain in regular schools disrupting the peace.  Those parents who cannot, or do not wish to, control their disruptive children should lose custody of those children to the state.

Just as the reformatory schools would exist for the disruptive, a new juvenile prison is needed at Her Majesty's Prisons.  This would be different from the reformatory schools, which would be schools for troubled children.  Juvenile jail would be jail for young criminals.

These few suggestions should be a part of a wider national discussion on the failing of Bahamian males.  We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on education in The Bahamas and we still have the problems we have.  Simply throwing more money at the education system is not necessarily the solution.

There was a time a few decades ago when women were discriminated against in the workplace and by law.

We fortunately have evolved beyond those times.  Today, however, as women rise and take on leadership positions in the country, men are falling.

The 14 percent figure at COB is dangerous.  If we cannot reach our boys and encourage them to embrace education, more and more of them will be before our courts lost, confused and charged with all manner of violent offenses.

Sep 03, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Poor education results persist in Bahamian schools... Most students continue to average D’s and E’s

Poor education results continue

Students average D in English and E in math in BGCSEs

KRYSTEL ROLLE
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com




Student performance declined in more than half of the 27 Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exam categories, with students continuing to average D’s and E’s, respectively in English language and mathematics, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Education.

According to Education Minister Desmond Bannister, who addressed the media at a news conference at the Ministry of Education, 34.3 percent of the 5,373 students who took the English language examination received a grade of C or above, while only 24.6 percent of the 5,200 students who took the maths BGCSE exam received a C grade or above.

That means that 65 percent of the candidates who sat the English language exam received a D grade or below and 75 percent of students taking the maths exam received a D grade or below.
Those two subjects were highlighted as areas of challenge by Education Director Lionel Sands. The ministry yesterday only released selected portions of the 2011 BGCSE and Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) exam results. Last year at this time it released the entire results reports for both exams.

“The subjects that we are most concerned with are the maths and English language,” Sands said. “These have perennially been problem subjects for us and we have been working very hard to ensure that the problems that we are confronted with, that we deal with them in terms of our instructional programs every year.”

In the government school system, teachers could teach up to 105 students for maths and 120 for English, Sands said.

The Department of Education does not have a sufficient compliment of teachers to teach the subjects of maths, physics, chemistry and several other technical areas. Sands said the ministry relies on bringing in teachers from abroad.

Other subjects where there was a decline in performance include: art and design, biology, economics, French, geography, keyboarding, music, office procedures and religious studies. The average exam grades were not provided for those subjects.

There were improvements recorded in 11 of the BGCSE subjects tested including: literature, book-keeping and accounts, carpentry and joinery, clothing construction, combined science, chemistry, physics and Spanish.

Results in graphical communications remained unchanged from 2010.

Bannister also provided information on the subjects of physics, Spanish and biology.

He said 62 percent of the candidates received a C or above in physics; 65 percent in Spanish; and 39.5 in biology.

In total, 937 candidates received at least a C grade or above in five or more subjects, which is a new record, according to Bannister. In 2010, there were 921 candidates who achieved that mark; and in 2009 there were 834 candidates who received the higher grades.

Bannister added that 1,554 candidates received five or more BGCSEs with a D grade or above, which is a slight decrease as compared to 2010. That year, 1,582 students received a D or above.

Bannister insisted that D is an average grade.

“We commend our students’ achievement and wish them continued success in their academic pursuits,” Bannister said.

According to Bannister, 7,327 candidates registered to sit the BGCSE exams, a slight increase compared to the 6,960 candidates registered in 2010.

Regarding the BJCs, approximately 9,015 candidates registered to sit the exams.

Bannister said the average for five of the 10 BJC subjects improved when compared to 2010. These subjects included: general science, health science, social studies, and technical drawing. The fifth subject was not named.

Results declined in English language, maths and religious studies, according to Bannister.

Aug 04, 2011

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Our education system is failing... It is particularly failing our boys

Education system failing our boys

thenassauguardian editorial



Last week new College of The Bahamas (COB) President Dr. Betsy Vogel-Boze told the Zonta Club that only 14 percent of COB graduates are male.

“It is not a problem that happens once they get to us. They are not graduating at the same rates, they are not applying for college at the same rates and that gap continues to widen,” she said.

The newly-landed foreign head of COB is right. Each year the results of the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) reveal the problem with boys in the education system.

In 2010, girls received 16,233 grades; boys received 10,683 grades. Boys are only receiving 39.7 percent of the grades issued at the senior exams.

The boys receive fewer grades because fewer of them are there at graduation. Our boys are dropping out in large numbers.

What is even sadder is that the boys who stay in school long enough to do their final exams are doing poorly.

For A through C grades at the 2010 BGCSE’s, girls received about double the number of these grades than boys. However, as you move down the grade spectrum, grades D to U, the fewer boys in the system nearly match the girls in poor performance – 554 girls received the U grade and 448 boys did the same.

Our education system is failing. It is particularly failing our boys.

There is without question a correlation between education systems that fail boys and high crime rates. Young men unable to function in a modern economy will not simple sit down and starve to death.

The Bahamas has set three homicide records in four years and it is on pace to shatter last years dubious record. Police have also been battling a surge in recent years in armed robberies and property crimes such as house-breaking.

Our crisis is not just a crime crisis. It is a crisis of integrating young men into the legal economy and into civil society. A national effort is required to help our boys. One part of the strategy to help them may be to separate the genders in the public education system.

Environments need to be created helping young men, collectively, to equate masculinity with honest work, achievement and struggle. As we fail our boys in the current education system they go off into the underworld economy of drugs and violence.

The reformatory schools also need to be expanded. Those who cannot behave should not be allowed to remain in regular schools disrupting the peace. Those parents who cannot, or do not wish to, control their disruptive children should lose custody of those children to the state.

Just as the reformatory schools would exist for the disruptive, a new juvenile prison is needed at Her Majesty’s Prisons. This would be different from the reformatory schools, which would be schools for troubled children. Juvenile jail would be jail for young criminals.

These few suggestions should be a part of a wider national discussion on the failing Bahamian boy and man. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on education in The Bahamas and we have the problems we have. Simply throwing more money at the education system is not necessarily the solution.

There was a time a few decades ago when women were discriminated against in the workplace and by law. We fortunately have evolved beyond those times. Today, however, as women rise and take on leadership positions in the country, men are falling.

The 14 percent figure at COB is dangerous. If we cannot reach our boys and encourage them to embrace education, more and more of them will be before our courts lost, confused and charged with all manner of violent offenses.

3/28/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Desmond Bannister - Education Minister says: Mathematics and English test scores reflect an issue of "national concern"

E- and D ‘national concern’
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
tthompson@tribunemedia.net:



STUDENTS sitting mathematics and English courses in this year's Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education exams (BGCSE) received average grades of E- and D respectively.

Still, mathematics and English are part of 16 subjects that showed some improvement in grade point averages compared to last year, including art and design A, art and design B, art and design C, biology, bookkeeping and accounts, chemistry, economics, food and nutrition, French, graphical communication, literature, office procedures, physics and religious studies.

The mathematics and English test scores reflect an issue of "national concern" highlighting the need for continued emphasis on improving literacy and numeracy skills in students, said Education Minister Desmond Bannister yesterday.

The subjects with the best results this year are art and design A, art and design B, art and design C, and carpentry and joinery with average grades of C+. The average test result of students who sat the bookkeeping/accounting exams was an E-.

Only four subjects saw an improvement in letter grades over last year. Art and design A and art and design C saw an average grade of C+, an improvement over the average grade of C in both subjects last year. The average grade in economics and office procedures was a D+, an improvement from D and D- respectively .

Geography, which recorded average grades of C this year and in 2009, was the only subject which did not see an increase or decrease in GPA or letter grade comparisons to last year.

The biggest improvement "in the history of the examination" was shown in the number of students who received at least a C or above in five or more subjects.

"There's been a general trend of improvement this year and that is where we are looking to go in the Bahamas with respect to results.

"This year the increase in the number of candidates who were successful in obtaining five or more subjects at grade 'C' or higher shows possibly the biggest improvement in this statistics in the history of the examination, improving to 921 compared to 834 in 2008 and 788 in 2007,” Mr Bannister said.

Five hundred and 20 students were awarded at least a grade C or above in mathematics, English and science compared to 476 in 2009, and 499 in 2008.

English language, biology and math continue to be the most popular subject choice for most students while Auto Mechanics, Clothing Construction and Electrical Installation continue to be the least. The majority of candidates who sit the heavily subscribed subjects usually only sit the core papers, said Mr Bannister, and none had a 100 per cent subscription rate.

The results were part of a report released by the Ministry of Education's Evaluation and Assessment Division yesterday on the BGCSE and the Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) exams for 2010. As promised earlier this year, Mr Bannister did not issue a national grade average for the junior and secondary certificate exams – an average he claims does not paint a clear picture of student performance.

The exams are graded on a seven point scale from A to G. There are 27 subjects offered and 14 of these subjects contain core and extended papers. The highest grade available on a core paper is a C while students sitting extended papers can score as high as an A letter grade.

While not "completely satisfied" with this year's results, Mr Bannister said with his ministry's targeted focus on numeracy and literacy skills he hoped to see a marked change in the test scores in the future.

August 06, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International