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

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