Performance in CXC English and Maths still poor
An analysis of the CXC results this year shows that Guyana continues to perform way below Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the region in key subject areas. In his column `Ian on Sunday', Sunday Stabroek columnist Ian McDonald presented a tabulated analysis of the 1998 results and compared it with Trinidad and Tobago and the region as a whole. The data show that Guyana performed poorly particularly in the vital areas of Mathematics and English. In English A, 5,306 took the exam and an overall pass rate of 22.3 percent was recorded - 3.3 percent with grade ones, 4.4 percent with grade twos and 14.6 percent with grade threes. This compares to Trinidad where 20,582 sat the exam and an overall pass rate of 56.4 percent was recorded - 17.7 percent passed with grade ones, 13.3 percent with grade twos and 25.4 percent with grade threes. In the region as a whole 68,426 wrote the exam and the results show an overall pass of 46.9 percent - 10.3 percent with grade ones, 10.9 percent with grade twos and 25.7 percent with grade threes. In Trinidad and Tobago, 19,168 wrote the exam and a total of 37 percent passed - 9.1 percent obtained grade ones, 10.3 percent grade twos and 17.6 percent grade threes. The region as a whole recorded a 27.7 percent pass in Mathematics - 4.1 percent grade ones, 7 percent grade twos and 16.6 grade threes. Trinidad recorded an overall pass rate of 65.4 percent out of the 4,649 who wrote the exam. An average of 28.1 percent got grade ones, 21.2 percent grade twos and 16.1 percent grade threes. Regionally, 16,134 sat the English B exam and percentage passes were 57.6 with 17.8 percent gaining grade ones, 21.1 percent grade twos and 18.7 percent grade threes. In terms of percentage passes, Integrated Science seems to have been one of the better subjects for local students. In Guyana, 1,278 students wrote the exam and 71.7 percent passed, but only four percent got grade ones. In Trinidad 3,123 wrote the exam and 78.2 percent passed, with 8.7 percent obtaining grade ones. Regionally 8,819 wrote the exam and 80.3 percent passed - 7.7 percent of whom copped grade ones. The Agricultural Science exam was sat by 601 students in Guyana, 54.3 percent of whom passed as against Trinidad where 615 sat the exam and 69.3 percent passed. In the region as a whole 2,200 students wrote Agricultural Science and 67.1 percent passed. There was a 35.6 percent pass rate among the 800 students who sat Biology. That compares to Trinidad where 4,972 wrote the subject and 59.6 passed. Overall 11,453 students wrote the exam and 55.6 percent passed. The Physics results show a 33.1 percent pass in Guyana as compared to Trinidad where there was a 57.2 percent pass. Overall 52 percent passed the exam. The Chemistry result was not much different with a 34.1 percent pass in Guyana, 56.6 percent in Trinidad and 54.1 percent overall. Of the 3,347 students who wrote Principles of Business, 30.6 percent passed in Guyana and in Trinidad 53.9 percent of the 10,745 passed. In the entire region 37,070 students attempted it and 51.6 percent passed. Caribbean History recorded 57.4 percent passes in Guyana, 69.2 percent in Trinidad and 70 percent overall. Passes in Spanish were recorded at 34.1 percent in Guyana, 55.8 percent in Trinidad and 60.8 percent in the region as a whole. The French exam was written by 40 Guyanese students and 55 percent passed. In Trinidad, 838 wrote the subject and 79.2 percent passed. In the region 2,678 sat the exam and 62.4 passed. A new grading system was introduced by CXC for this year's marking and Grades 1-3 out of six grades at the General proficiency level are classified as passes compared with Grades 1-2 out of five grades in the previous system. 
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