Principal's 2024 CSEC & CAPE Report
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The Ministry of Education (MOE) released the results of the May-June 2024 CXC examinations on August 20 last at a function held at Queen’s College, Georgetown. According to the information provided by the Chief Education Officer, Mr. Saddam Hussain, in Guyana as a whole, eleven thousand six hundred and twelve (11,612) candidates appeared for the CSEC and seven hundred and twenty-one (721) for the CAPE examinations, with an overall pass rate of 67.23% and 92.57% respectively.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (MOE) LISTS
As usual, MOE publishes two lists showing the schools in which students gained (1) 14 grades ones or more, and (2) 8 grade ones or more, nationally. A total 33 students across the country from 11 schools made list one, while 255 students from 41 schools made the second list.
Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC)
To be able to better understand and appreciate SVN’s achievement at the CSEC and CAPE examinations it is important of keep in mind that SVN has an open admission policy. Unlike the public school system where NGSA students are graded and awarded secondary schools according to their scores with the top 1% being sent to the senior most public school, SVN admits students regardless of NGSA scores. For example, in the current class of 2024, NGSA scores range from the highest at 527 to the lowest at 314, with an average of 477.84. Another significant fact about SVN, is that its students, unlike those of the leading public schools, do not go anywhere outside of the school for extra tuition or lessons.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
A total of 83 students – 30 males and 53 females – took the CSEC examinations, achieving an Overall Pass Rate (OPR)[1] of 93.80% which is marginally up from 93.40% attained in 2023.
However, in terms of grade one passes alone our students have performed spectacularly well. At 49.7%, the overall grade one passes this year is the highest for the last ten years and is the second highest in the school’s history.
[1] The pass grades at CXC are I to III with grade IV considered acceptable.
MATRICULATION
Of the 83 students who sat the examinations 77 of them – 91.57% – matriculated, that is, passed with a minimum of 5 subjects including English Language and Mathematics though no matriculating student at SVN obtained less than 10 subjects. The Overall Matriculation Rate (OMR) of 91.57% represents the second highest OMR achieved since 2014. In 2020 the OMR was above 95%.
It is extremely heartening to see that among those who matriculated are fourteen (14) students with NGSA scores ranging from 405 to 455. The student, Nishan Mahadeo, with 405 matriculated with 12 subjects including 6 grade ones, including a grade one in both English Language and Mathematics. This is a significant trend seen at SVN consistently over the years.
SUBJECT PERFORMANCE
This year SVN gained 100% passes in 10 subjects which is two more than in 2023.
As seen from the above table, our students returned 100% passes in these ten subjects in 2024. The pass rate of grade 1 to 3 as well as the grade 1 passes (2024) for each of the 21 subjects are shown in the above table.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE
As noted above SVN has 8 students (out of the national total of 33) who made the MOE list of 14 grade ones or more. They are Chitra Parbhu with 17 grade ones, Dhanpal Singh, Bhawani Persaud and Rihanna Yassin with 15 grade ones each, and Darshani Somwaru, Ryan Bhojnauth, Rameshwar Maraj, and Lakeram Ramnarain with 14 grade ones. In addition, 7 other students gained 13 grade ones.
Other notable performances are those of students who matriculated with 10 or more subjects and whose NGSA score was below 450. Among these are:
One of the more remarkable performances this year is that of Crystal Obermuller, a student who migrated from Venezuela and entered SVN in grade 9. Facing a major language problem Crystal completed her CSEC with 14 subjects with 11 grade ones including grade ones in English Language and Mathematics. She is now at the University of Guyana on a full scholarship from SVN.
📋 EVALUATION
Of the 21 subjects offered at SVN, students scored 100% passes[1] in 10 of them. While Caribbean History recorded a marginal improvement from 93.9% in 2024 to 96% in 2024 in the overall pass rate, grade one passes plummeted from 18.20% to 6.3% in the same period.
Among the science subjects, the overall pass rate in Biology improved from 97% in 2023 to 100% in 2024. Grade 1 passes also rose from 69% to 75.9%. Chemistry remained stable at 100% but showed a significant jump in grade 1 passes from 39.4% to 62.1%. Physics moved up from 93.9% to 100% with grade 1 passes more than doubling from 12.1% to 27.6%. Agricultural Sciences passes remained at the 100% maximum but grade 1 passes moved from 68.8% to 82.4%. In the meantime, Human and Social Biology remains stable in overall passes of 100% but in grade one passes there has been a drop from 94.1% to 88.6%. Another science related subject, Industrial Technology: Electrical has remained steady at 100% in overall passes but declined in grade one passes from 50% in 2023 to 12.5% in 2024.
While our performance in the three major science subjects remain strong and steady, the overall pass rate and grade one passes for Integrated Science have been declining over the last few years. In 2021, for example, the subject recorded 100% overall pass rate and 68.2% grade one passes, but in both of these areas there has been a constant decline year after year such that the 2024 results now show 96.4% overall pass rate and 32.1% grade one passes.
In the business subjects, Economics showed a slight decline in pass rate from 97.5% in 2023 to 94.1% in 2024, but improved in grade one passes from 25% to 35.3%. Office Administration remained stable at 100% with a slight decline in grade one passes from 86.7% to 83.3%, while Principles of Business recorded a marginal decline from 100% to 98.6% but grade one passes rose from 81.6 to 88.9%. Of concern is the performance in Principle of Accounts which has been showing a fluctuating pattern over the years both in overall pass rate and grade 1 passes. In 2023 the pass rate was 91.7% as against 85.9% in 2024, but grade one passes declined drastically from 12.5% to 4.7%. On the other hand, in both overall pass rate and grade one passes EDPM continues to record high results showing 100% and 98.6% in overall pass rate in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and grade one passes of 97.7% and 93% respectively.
English Language and Mathematics
In the two key areas of English Language and Mathematics, SVN has maintained a significantly high level of performance. English Language recorded a 100% pass rate for the fourth time in five years with 83.1% grade one passes in 2024. English Literature also recorded a major improvement in overall pass rate from 89.6% in 2023 to 97.6% in 2024. More importantly, however, in this subject is the increase of grade one passes, from 10.4% to 33.7%
While CXC has been repeatedly lamenting the low performance in Mathematics for the region as a whole, the situation in Guyana is somewhat dire. At 31% overall pass rate in 2024 as against 34%[2] in 2023, the country has seen one of its lowest performances ever. At SVN however, the Mathematics story has been quite spectacularly different. In 2005 at the school’s first CSEC examination there was an overall pass rate of 63.2%. In 2006 the pass rate went up to 72.4% but went down again in the following year to the first year’s level of 63.2%. Leaving out the first three years, for the next 17 years, from 2008 to the present, only once in 2016 with 77.1%, did the overall pass rate fall below 80%. In 2024, SVN achieved an overall pass rate of 91.6% with 44.6% grade one passes. The overall average for the last 20 years (including 2024) stands at 85/1%. The result in Additional Mathematics has also been very impressive. From an overall pass rate and grade one passes of 52.20 % and 8.7% respectively in 2023, the subject moved up to 100% overall passes and 50% grade one passes in 2024.
Information Technology is a subject that has seen a consistently high success rate over the years recording 100% pass rate in 14 of the 20 years including 2024 since SVN has offered the subject. However, grade one passes have declined from 70.1%in 2023 to 55.4% in 2024. While Social Studies continues to record a high overall pass rate showing 98.4% and 93.8% in 2023 and 2024 respectively, but grade one passes declined from 36.1% to 31.3%.
History, Spanish, and Geography
While Caribbean History recorded a marginal improvement from 93.9% in 2023 to 96% in 2024 in the overall pass rate, grade one passes plummeted from 18.20% to 6.3% in the same period. Spanish has seen a decline in both overall and grade one passes recording 78.8% and 70.9% in overall passes, and 16.7% and 11.4% grade one passes in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Geography has similarly showed a decline from 81.1% in 2023 to 63.5% in 2024 in overall pass rate, and 1.9% to 0% in grade one passes in 2023 and 2024 respectively. These three subjects along with Principles of Accounts are being currently under review to find ways to effect improvement.
[1] Grades 1 to 3.
[2] Stabroek News, August 21, 2023. The Ministry of Education website has the 2023 overall pass rate at 37%.
Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE)
In 2024, SVN registered seventeen (17) students to write CAPE, eight (8) students for Unit 1 and nine (9) students for Unit 2. In 2024, the overall pass rate (Grades I – V) for CAPE is 97%, a marginal decline from the overall pass rate of 97.73% in 2023. However, there was an increase in the grade one passes, 37% overall grade ones as compared to 16.7% in 2023. This represents the highest overall grade one passes since from 2018 to present.
Jenna Hoosein SVN first year CAPE student was recognised nationally, having completed eight (8) units with 6 Grade Ones, 1 Grade Three and 1 Grade Four.
From CAPE Unit 2, Valisha Singh completed a total of thirteen (13) units after two years, obtaining 7 Grade Ones, 5 Grade Twos and 1 Grade Three while Nathram Chintaman completed fifteen (15) units, obtaining 6 Grade Ones, 4 Grade Twos, 5 Grade Threes and 1 Grade Five.
All subjects recorded 100% pass (Grades I – V) except for Chemistry Unit 1 in which one student obtained a grade six.
In Memoriam: Friends of SVN who have Passed On
13 October 2024
7 September 2024
5 August 2024
1 March 2024
27 November 2023
23 September 2023
14 September 2023
2 September 2023
29 June 2023
27 July 2022