Ministry of Education officials are reporting that the national average remains a ﾓDﾒ as reflected in the results of this yearﾴs Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations.
According to Lionel Sands, assistant director for the Testing and Evaluation Centre, about 800 of the 5,700 students who sat the exams, passed five or more subjects with ﾑCﾴ and above, a pre-requisite for entry into the College of the Bahamas.
This number was up by 150, he reported.
Mr. Sands said while overall results showed no significant improvement, more students are being accepted into institutions of higher learning both here and abroad.
ﾓThatﾴs a good sign,ﾒ Mr. Sands said. ﾓOverall the results are basically the same as last year but we had a little bit more of those students who are eligible to go on to tertiary education.ﾒ
He said the College of the Bahamas sought the official records of 620 students who took the exams and an additional 221 requests were made by other colleges abroad for the fall semester.
Mr. Sands pointed out that while there were some subjects that showed improvements, there were some subjects that saw a decline in the average grade.
This year, there were improvements in Math and English.
In order for the overall average grade to change, he said there has to be a significant improvement in studentsﾴ performance.
ﾓThe only way that can happen is if we drop the standard of the examination,ﾒ he said. ﾓWe are not going to drop the standards just to make the results look good.
ﾓThe examination standards must remain the same regardless of how the students performﾅThe standard of our exam are set very high because we want to give our kids a fighting chance when they go away to school.ﾒ ﾠ
He reminded that those standards must be internationally-accepted.
He said that the Ministry of Education will continue to implement various methods to ensure that slight improvements continue to happen over time. ﾠ
ﾓWhen you add all of the slight improvements in over time then those improvements become significant,ﾒ Mr. Sands said.
Compared to the previous years when more students fell in the lower scale of the examination spectrum, more of the 5,700 students who sat the exams this June are in the middle scale, examination results reveal.
Yvette Rolle-Major, The Bahama Journal
