Submitted by Felicia Dujon, Director of the Caribbean Mentorship Institute
The Caribbean Examination Council recently announced that over 11,000 pupils across the region who wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Exam (formerly O’levels) last May/June got no passes. The Caribbean Mentorship Institute has also raised concern on this alarming disclosure.
The institute which advocates and conducts research on Caribbean youths has observed an increasing trend of high school dropouts among male students as well. Ms. Felicia Dujon, the Director adds that “ though the figures are alarmingly high- we must consider that each fail grade is a young person who is failing academically. This raises serious concerns for the development of young persons in our region. The question remains whether we are making the impacts that are necessary for their growth and development. Are our curriculums preparing our students for future development? What alternative forms of education can these young persons have access to which will enable them to succeed economically and as contributing citizens. Too many of our young males are high-school drops out, and it is more alarming when it is occurring at the primary school level.
The Institute advises government and education officials to include vocational and mentoring programs in schools which will assist young men and women to have the additional support which is needed for their academic development. They observe that failing grades can contribute to low esteem and deviant behaviours if not addressed effectively. The Institute adds that according to research, Dr. Robert S. Byrd, an Associate Professor of Clinical Paediatrics, Division of General Paediatrics, University of California at Davis, Sacramento, California notes that failure in school can have lifelong consequences. The causes of school failure are myriad and often multiple within individual students who are struggling academically. Social, behavioural, and emotional problems frequently lead to academic difficulties. Health conditions also can impair academic performance. One in five children who repeats a grade in school has some identifiable disability. Irrespective of its cause, school failure is associated with adverse health outcomes. Children who fail in school are more likely to engage in subsequent health-impairing behaviours as adolescents. Failing students also are more likely to drop out of school. Adults who have no high school education often face limited economic opportunities, but they also are more likely to engage in health-impairing behaviours, to experience poor health, and to die at a younger age. Comprehensive approaches to evaluation and intervention may improve outcomes, and health care practitioners should play a vital role in these assessments. Moreover, clinicians can make a significant difference in outcomes by helping families identify the causes of failure and advocate for the resources to alter a child’s downward academic trajectory, preventing further compromise of a child’s health. Paediatric clinicians also should assess and intervene in risk behaviours of failing students. School readiness promotion and school failure prevention should be incorporated into routine health supervision visits.
Publish the breakdown of the figures, by island/nation and by school and gender. Until then we are passing like ships in the night.
We have discussed many times, the analysis is not available for public consumption.
@David
Why is analysis not available ?
@Wily
Good question. Some are of the view that it is not being done!
I agree with Hal & others calling for the data to be made available ….. we are not fools, we can analyse too, we don’t need headline grabbers from these organisations to just come out and ‘tell us like it is’, in their opinion. Publish the data!!!!! Let us form our own opinions!!
Why is analysis not available ?
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Are you CRAZY?
That would almost certainly FORCE us to deal with the MANY CLEARLY incompetent teachers (such as the idiot Morris from Combermere) and with other politically appointed morons who are failing BADLY every year.
If people knew the level of shiite (and published results would CERTAINLY show that) going on in the schools in the name of education, …wuh EVEN Bajan brass bowls would demand urgent major reform.
Decisions like appointments of Principals to schools, members to school Boards, budgets to schools, allocation of students, etc are SACRED rights of political gods – not sound management strategies designed to drive success.
…besides, did you get the impression that the various Ministers of eddykashun had the ability to appreciate such statistical information…?
You like you jonesing yuh….
Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to publish the facts.
David(BU) claims the information is not available. I was told by a senior person from the CXC that they deliver the full breakdown to the ministry. The person who told me that should know. It is the ministry that refuses to publish the figures. Are we to believe that in the 1950s and 60s the full details used to be published, even naming the individual students, and in 2018 we do not have those figures.
We also want details of all the schools that have won the CXC school of the year award. How many have been Barbadian schools? Which schools? Why is St Lucia out-performing us?
We must stop tolerating mediocrity. Only fail states think the normal is exceptional – like a so-called scholar gaining a degree in maths in Barbados becomes a genius.
SO WHEN ALL THIS “ANALYSIS” IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC………WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
THE BU BRIMBLERS WILL BRAY AND BARK…….AND THEN WHAT?
WHO WILL ANALYZE THE ANALYSIS? TO WHAT END? WITH WHAT RESULTS?
IT IS NOTE WORTHY THAT THE ISLAND SCHOLARS AND EXHIBITION WINNERS GOT HIGH GRADES………AND IN THE SAME DEFICIENT SOCIETIES?
I WONDER HOW THEY ACHIEVED THIS.
ONE THING I KNOW, WHEN EVER I DID NOT PASS AN EXAM IT WAS BECAUSE I DID NOT STUDY OR I FAILED TO DO SOMETHING THAT WAS REQUIRED.
NOW BARK AND BRAY BU BRIMBLERS.
EXPRESS YOUR HATE AND DISDAIN AT WHAT I HAVE SAID
The data is available for all countries but publishing it in Bim may puncture the notion that we are “punching above our weight”.
@Sargeant
It is incomprehensible that analysis is not being done on data received from CXC. Note there is a difference between data and analysis of said data.
I’m an expert in study, and I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that the main reason students fail is improper study habits. In mainstream schools, the teacher should teach and the student should study. If you notice, the words “student” and “study” have the same stem. Where you have an overemphasis on teaching, you get student failure. I’m currently in Barbados from NY. I’m a Barbadian, and I would work with individuals, families and institutions to raise the success of students.
I’m an expert in study, and I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that the main reason students fail is improper study habits.
++++++++++++++++
Hello!!
First of all…
What the Hell is an ‘expert in study…’?
Secondly
What represents ‘student failure’?
Thirdly
What constitutes ‘proper study habits’?
Boss… some of the most ‘successful’ people on earth were deemed to be ‘student failures’. So you probably mean why students fail EXAMS…..and
Different people have different abilities and habits. There is no single ‘proper study habit’.
Some damn people have photographic memories. – what study habit what?
Some people have dyslexia …. what is the proper ‘habit’ for such…?
Steupsss…. if only it were so simple.
“SO WHEN ALL THIS “ANALYSIS” IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC………WHAT WILL HAPPEN? THE BU BRIMBLERS WILL BRAY AND BARK…….AND THEN WHAT? WHO WILL ANALYZE THE ANALYSIS? TO WHAT END? WITH WHAT RESULTS?”
Georgie Porgie
I agree with you 100%!!
Some, because of their specific agendas, are quick to blame the educational system or teachers…….but as you and Anderson Worrell mentioned, students failing exams is a result of improper study habits and a lack of discipline, When I was university I came across students that preferred not to attend lectures or tutorials, but would rather spend the time playing dominoes or fooling around the campus.
Then they end up spending 6 to 7 years trying to complete an undergraduate degree because they switch faculties as the work progressively becomes more difficult and require more study effort.
David BU
Please explain to me what are the significant differences between information not being available to the public and the Ministry not presenting information for public perusal……….or are we, as usual…..”nitpicking?”
How is asking for analysis of exam results be shared with the wider public nitpicking?
The blogmaster reached out to a source and here is the response:
The only person(s) who should care about failing students are the students themselves and maybe their parents/guardians.
The society also has an interest in failing students, that is our future. By the way, GCSE and A level results have just been published in the UK. This is followed by a national debate. The only way in which we can improve our educational system is by knowing its strengths and weaknesses.
I can engineer a result that everybody passes the exams and I am not an expert on anything. Oh wait CXC already has done that. It is called CCSLC. Check it out!
The society also has an interest in failing students, that is our future.
REALLY?
Only people like the author of the blurb at the top of this blog cares about such
She has to write some shite to appear relevant and to suggest that she is working for her salary.
re By the way, GCSE and A level results have just been published in the UK. This is followed by a national debate.
SO WHAT? DID THEY HAVE A NATIONAL DEBATE LAST YEAR TOO? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED THE RESULTS THIS YEAR?
HOW WILL THE NATIONAL DEBATE THIS YEAR AFFECT THE 2019 RESULTS IF THE STUDENTS DONT STUDY?
I WILL SAY THIS THOUGH….AND THIS CAN NOT BE REFUTED.
IF EVER THERE WAS A TIME THAT SERIOUS STUDENTS SHOULD DO WELL, IT IS NOW.
NEVER BEFORE HAVE THERE BEEN THE AIDS FOR STUDYING AS THERE ARE TODAY
THE INTERNET
FLASH CARDS
SUPERIOR TEXTBOOKS THAT ARE WELL ILLUSTRATED AND LAY OUT THE INFORMATION SIMPLY
Children will not ‘study well’ in a vacuum. The environment is not sterile or controlled.
@ GP
Boss..
There MUST be some topic that you truly understand…. cricket maybe…?
@ Artax
Bushie also knows of fellow university students who played all day too…. and who ended up with first class honours.
What is your point?
Shiite boss… Bushie knows of people who never even made secondary school …and who to this day is the personal envy of the Bushman when it comes to having lives a life of SUCCESS and HONOUR. it is more than studying hard…
@ Ping Pong
You are being wicked…
But it is the school based assessments – that provide a start point of 40% of the needed marks – and which can be done by anyone (if scruples are controlled) that amazes Bushie. How we don’t have 1000 Barbados Scholars every year defies understanding….
But with the politicians and leaders that we have in society, it may be asking too much for young impressionable students to turn out to be intelligent. Apples hardly ever fall far from the tree….
THOSE WHO DO/ DID WELL STUDIED IN THE SAME NON-STERILE UNCONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT
WHEN HAS THE ENVIRONMENT EVER BEEN STERILE OR CONTROLLED
IF I HAD TO START OVER I WOULD WANT TO STUDY IN TODAY”S NON-STERILE UNCONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT, CAUSE IT IS GREAT FOR STUDENTS WITH ALL THE AIDS.
GP
if ever there was a time that people should live healthy lives is now. But we fat as shite, got all kinds of “chronic non communicable diseases” etc. Yet there are doctors and other health practitioners galore, the internet, books, public health notices and advisories, gyms, nutritionists, wellness coaches etc…
As you are stating it comes down to accepting personal responsibility.
RE Bushie also knows of fellow university students who played all day too…. and who ended up with first class honours.
MAYBE THEY STUDIED ALL NIGHT. WHO KNOWS?
RE Bushie knows of people who never even made secondary school …and who to this day is the personal envy of the Bushman when it comes to having lives a life of SUCCESS and HONOUR. it is more than studying hard…
SO THEN THE WHOLE DEBATE IS WORTHLESS. THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT CXC RESULTS OR EVEN GOING TO SCHOOL
RE But with the politicians and leaders that we have in society, it may be asking too much for young impressionable students to turn out to be intelligent. Apples hardly ever fall far from the tree….
ESPECIALLY IF WE GO BY THOSE WHO BARK AND BRAY AND BRIMBLE ON BU
Ping Pong August 23, 2018 10:15 AM
HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOU 100% ,,,,,,,,,it comes down to accepting personal responsibility.
And who or what is responsible for fashioning an individual for being personally responsible?
My two “favorite” countries are Singapore and Venezuela. I am fascinated by these two countries because they so irrefutably show that the quality of life experienced by the citizens of a country has little to do with the history, geography, size, minerals, etc of the country. It has to do with the intelligence and morality of the people.
For those who see Singapore through rose-tinted glasses, here is one view from the opposition in Singapore. It is a atrial view, but we must remember Singaporeans swapped democracy for progress. Is that something we would like to do in Barbados?
The more I look at the PAP members today, the more many of them look like greedy bastards to me.
They keep giving excuses for their failures, they don’t show up for parliamentary sessions. They keep telling lies, breaking promises, and expect people to trust them.
So many Singaporeans had sufferred greatly under their control. Highly experienced degree holders were forced to take up a Private Driver Vocational License and to drive for Uber and Grab. This competition was especially hard on taxi drivers, with so many drivers fighting for the same pool of customers.
PAP ministers and MPs are trapped by dogma. Just because some of their policies worked in the past, doesn’t mean that it will continue to work again and again in the future. If it were that easy, we wouldn’t need people. The circumstances are always changing and people have to evolve together with the changes.
For years, PAP had failed to improve themselves. They started rewarding themselves with more and more money despite producing worse and worse results. They did one wrong thing after another. PAP is really no smarter than us, but yet they are abusing their positions of “authority” to enslave us with heavier and heavier chains. This cannot be allowed to go on.
PAP had created an environment whereby people were made to feel like they would never be good enough. Made to feel like they would never be as good as the PAP “royalty”. They said it was a meritocratic society, but get a PHD and they would try to push you down like what they did with Dr Chee Soon Juan.
There is no other country in the world that tries so hard to attack its potential leaders. Using the police, using the courts against people, bankrupting them and using every way possible to stop others from competing against them.
What is it trying so hard to protect? There can only be one explanation for this: skeletons in the closet. There are things that they don’t want people to know. Things that they can’t allow people to know. Not things that threaten national security. But things that threaten their party’s re-electability.
You think PAP is a party that doesn’t resort to dirty tricks and methods?
RE And who or what is responsible for fashioning an individual for being personally responsible?
THE INDIVIDUAL…WHO ELSE IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS
IT HAS BEEN SAID YOU CAN CARRY A HORSE TO WATER, BUT YOU CANT MAKE HIM DRINK AND YOU CAN SEND A FOOL TO COLLEGE, BUT YOU CANT MAKE HIM THINK…….OR STUDY
In developing countries data on ALL students in ALL schools and their performance (CXC AND internal exams) is available to everyone. It encourages accountability. Schools must publish the data online by law in some cases.
The Ministry has ALL data on ALL schools in ALL subjects at the CXC level (and the new CCSLC). Similarly ALL schools have ALL data on ALL students in their schools. By the way, percentages, breakdowns, performance within subjects, gender breakdowns etc are ALL provided by CXC
Any refusal to disclose statistics is entirely the choice of the Ministry and/or schools. Bear in mind that it would take a radical and revolutionary Principal to publicly share all CXC results and internal results other than a “staged prepared” Speech Day. In my honest opinion they could and they should.
re. data analysis, the Barbadian education system does not have a culture of data analysis and decision making based on data. The term spinning tot in mud comes to mind.
@Anthony Worrell
“I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that the main reason students fail is improper study habits.”
I wholeheartedly disagree with this simplistic representation of a complex developmental multifaceted issue such as education. teaching, learning, assessment, learning styles, instructional methods, scaffolding, continuous development, cognitive v. affective v. psychomotor competencies, socio-emotional factors etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah
@Ping Pong
you are missing the intrinsic purpose of CCSLC. Its more about the process than the result
@Bush Tea 8:04
nuff said
WHAT A LOAD OF BOVINE EXCREMENT
IN THE GOOD OLE DAYS WHERE THE EXAM OF REAL CONSEQUENCE WAS THE FINAL EXAM, I USED TO PROGRAM MY PREPARATION FOR THAT TIME
I NEVER PREPARED FOR ANY TEST OR EXAM OTHER THAN FINALS
I PASSED THE EXAMS FOR WHICH I STUDIED AND PREPARED – NEVER STUDIED PASS 9 PM EITHER- AND I FAILED ALL THOSE FOR WHICH I REFUSED TO PREPARE OR STUDY FOR.
NO WONDER I AM A COLLOSSAL FAILURE AS SOME HERE OPINE
My first thought re the many Caribbean children who failed the CXC examinations was how many took it?(people tend to highlight what they see as negative…there is rarely a balance presented). Other thoughts followed: was the examination based on the course of study? Was it covered and presented in such a way that the students understood? Did the teachers realize that their students either got or did not get it? Did the students tell the teachers if they understood or did not?
Many factors are woven into passing or failing examinations. Contributors have outlined that here.
Years ago I went into many schools re marketing a product and a few recently to offer assistance.
Believe me when I say that some of the things the teachers say to the children did hurt me. Also, the school environment- filthy bathrooms, dusty classrooms, indiscipline etc.
All those working with children need to have some degree of knowledge in child psychology, and mentoring. They should always show empathy, and not ask like Army Sargeants.
Then again we need to stop the academic only approach- look at how the world is changing and steer students towards preparedness for their future. Some of the world’s most successful people did not pass many if any examinations.
OOPS. ..read ” should not act” not ask
@ Peggy A. Green August 23, 2018 12:05 PM
Some of the world’s most successful people did not pass many if any examinations is the only statement of substance in this submission.
But “we need to stop the academic only approach” BECAUSE PASSING EXAMS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ACADEMICS
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW MANY EXAMS I FAILED BECAUSE “the school environment- filthy bathrooms, dusty classrooms” AND BECAUSE OF some of the things the teachers” SAID TO ME.
Once an English man in Organic told me that I could not add. I told him that I knew that, but that he could not give me wrong change. Then I aced the Organic exam.
.
I can just imagine how much better I might have done if my teachers had “ some degree of knowledge in child psychology, and mentoring” and were not like Army Sargeants.
Now this is BU SUOPER SCIENCE ..WATCH
“My first thought re the many Caribbean children who failed the CXC examinations was how many took it? WOW! BRILLIANT!
Other thoughts followed: was the examination based on the course of study? NO CXC ROUTINELY SET EXAMS ON MATERIAL NOT IN THE COURSE SYLABUS.
RE Was it covered and presented in such a way that the students understood? Did the teachers realize that their students either got or did not get it? Did the students tell the teachers if they understood or did not?
IN THIS DAY AND AGE WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY STUDY GUIDES AND AIDS AROUND I CAN JUST SEE SANE, INTERESTED, CONSCIENTIOUS TEACHERS WAITING AROUND FOR TEACHERS
RE Many factors are woven into passing or failing examinations.
THE MAIN ONE IS STUDYING……..AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT
@Bombero who wrote
“you are missing the intrinsic purpose of CCSLC. Its more about the process than the result”.
Huh?!!
Here is a link to the CXC for whom Google is an enemy.
https://www.cxc.org/examinations/ccslc/
Wow what an unproductive discussion.
Global stats are useless unless you want some talking points and this is precisely what is happening here.
The best approach here is to sample the population and gather more information (common entrance score, 3rd term reports, socio-economic variables, student, teacher and school variables)
Run regression analyses and look for correlations
The variables that give the strongest correlations need to be investigated further. The challenge is it may require another round of data collection and more regression analyses. It is very unlikely to find causes but there will likely be strong correlation to a number of independent variables
This is basic statistical analysis or data science and what I would expect from someone advising government. What I see here looks like speculation i.e GARBAGE
This is typical of consultants, create talking points based on speculation, use it to push an agenda, present yourself as an expert, advise incompetent governments, get a continuous stream of funding with no requirement to produce meaningful results, just produce speeches for Ministers and give the occasional press statement.
Totally unproductive, not one ounce of value added.
@Redguard
What are you going on about?
David
I can make any claim I want. Just saying!
The comment about Google was hardly directed at you Ping Pong.
You proved my point Ping Pong, you can make whatever claim you want because that data presented in this discussion is of no real value. It needs to be processed so real value can be added. Speculation adds no value (which is what everyone is doing), it just allows every person with an agenda to talk and usually the loudest (ALL CAPS) or the “smartest” in the room wins.
I FOUND THIS TO BE INTERESTING
BUT REMEMBER I AM AN IDIOT AND A COLLOSSAL FAILURE
A new study that shows kids today neither read nor write will make you despair about the future.
We previously found that kids have already lost the ability to write anything past texting speak (you know, your “LOLs” and “BFFs”). But now we are finding out that they just don’t read anything longer than a text message, either.
This is bad news for all of western civilization. After all, you can’t pass on intricate values and a shared civilization if no one can read or write.
Time magazine has this discouraging tale:
A third of U.S. teenagers haven’t read a book for pleasure in at least a year, according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association (APA). And it’s not because they’re too busy watching TV.
The research, published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture, points to the continuing dominance of digital media among teenagers. Teen use of traditional media — such as books, magazines and television — has dropped off, while time spent texting, scrolling through social media and using other forms of digital media continues to increase, the survey says.
To reach their conclusions, APA researchers analyzed data from the Monitoring the Future study, an ongoing annual survey of around 50,000 eighth, 10th and 12th graders. The study included survey responses from 1976 to 2016.
Podcasts were found to be popular as was audio books where kids listen to someone else read a book to them.
But, listening to a story instead of reading a story does not yield the same level of inculcation nor engagement. It’s one thing to hear a fictitious story read aloud, but philosophy and history and learning about our society just can’t be deeply inculcated and understood orally. One needs to see the words in print, to be able to mark a page or go back to it and re-read it over and over again. You just can’t do this with audio.
Insight cannot be gained by listening to everything. It just can’t.
Further more, one also learns HOW to communicate effectively by reading. When you read, you see how people craft sentences and paragraphs and how they assemble information. You SEE how ideas are woven in and out of the text. By the act of reading, a reader gains more insight int the presentation than just the simple grasping of the main point of an idea. He also sees the way an idea is presented.
In addition, people speak differently than the written word, too. People speak in chopped sentences, not thought out, long-form paragraphs. People take short cuts when they speak, quick fades in and out of ideas, interruptions and backtracking, things that they would never perform on the written page. Sound also conveys a different message. Sarcasm, for instance, may be obvious in audio form but the exact same words may seem quite different on the written page.
But if we’ve raised a whole generation of dunces who can’t concentrate past the few characters of a text message, we will lose our national character and we’ll birth generations of people too stupid to understand that they are being manipulated by the left.
Indeed, we’ve already gotten to that point, sadly.
We move closer to the movie Idiocracy every day.
IS THIS THE SAME IN OUR BEAUTIFUL BARBADOS
I don’t know about process and result but the Ministry of Education regards the entire CCSLC certificate i.e Maths, Integrated Science, English, Social studies and community service equivalent to a single CSEC certificate. Students who have actually taken the exams commented that the standard is somewhere around that found in primary school.
In 2011, the Jamaica Ministry of Education decided to discontinue participation in CCSLC.
“The ministry said it has spent approximately $97 million since it started offering the exam in 2008, and noted the examination is a waste of critical funds.”
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/power/32581
I don’t know if Jamaica has started back offering the CCSLC.
@Ping Pong
The link maybe of interest to you.
https://www.cxc.org/examinations/ccslc/ccslc-recognition/
On Thu, Aug 23, 2018 at 6:48 PM Barbados Underground wrote:
>
So CCSLC has been evaluated to be “broadly comparable” to what 14 year olds in the UK, Canada, USA or Australia are expected to achieve “to enable students to progress to the subsequent year of study in each of the four countries examined”. So do the 4 countries examined hold out grade 9 as an appropriate exit level of academic attainment as we are doing with CCSLC?
“The conclusions are not a measure of direct equivalence to a specific programme, or subject-for-subject equivalence.
I’ll just go with the Jamaican Ministry of Education’s assessment of the CCSLC as a waste of critical funds.
I think people should scrutinize CXC. After all University students are correcting these papers not qualified teachers. The standard for GCSE is: To apply to be an examiner or moderator, you must have:
at least three full terms (eg September to July) recent teaching experience (within the last three years) in the subject and level that you’re applying to mark
appropriate academic qualifications in the subject. This usually means a degree and teaching qualification, or equivalent
a private PC or laptop with Windows 7 or later, and broadband access in your home. You may be able to complete some of your allocated marking at your school or college, as long as your centre meets our confidentiality conditions and you have permission from your employer
a referee: your current or most recent head of school or college, or head of department
UK residency (for paper-based marking) or UK or EEA residency (for online marking). More on this below
Qualified teachers who have a number of years’ examining experience with a recognised awarding body but no longer work in a school or college are also encouraged to apply. The examining experience you have needs to be within the last three years in the subject and at the level you’re applying to mark. In this instance, you’ll need to supply a referee from the awarding body you most recently worked for.
TO ALL EX HARRISONIANS FROM THE 60’S PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ONE AND ONLY BILLY BONES OR BILLY THE KID CANON I McK JONES DIED TODAY
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/188672/canon-jones-passes
Rest in Peace Canon Jones. Imagine he taught my father at HC in the 1950’s.
“Bushie also knows of fellow university students who played all day too…. and who ended up with first class honours.
What is your point?”
Bushie
How do you know your fellow university students did not study while at because that environment was more suited for them to do so?……..unless you were with them 24/7.
While at secondary school I used to play basket ball and fool around the entire day. However, I used my time at home to study, which resulted in me passing more CXCs at higher grades than my class mates.
Then……what is your point?
David BU
Seems as though you’re becoming slow or your comprehension skills are slipping.
You wrote the exam information is not available for public consumption and someone responded “David(BU) claims the information is not available……” but a breakdown is given to the MoE.
I simply asked what is the difference between you mentioning the information is not available and the ministry refusing to make the information public.
Yes, the blogmaster is not the brightest.
Bushie
*******How do you know your fellow university students did not study while at HOME or at any venue other than the university or in your presence…….. because that environment was more suited for them to do so?……..unless you were with them 24/7.
Who is our acting minister of education, given Santia Bradshaw’s illness?
The work will be shared with collegues and she will use technology from overseas to support.
I like Santia’s dignified and intelligent approach to her work, but working from her sick bed is not appropriate. In any case, we owe it to Santia to allow her to concentrate on regaining her health.
We need a full-time acting minister at a time like to this to push through new and radical changes to our educational system. We missed out during the 14 lost years of Arthur rule, and the ten years in which Start/Jones abandoned our young people. We are now in the last chance saloon. We now have young graduates who were not born when Arthur first came to power. The prime minister must appoint n acting minister without hesitation.
MAYBE THE PM SHOULD APPOINT HAL AUSTIN OR DAVID KING AS ACTING EDUCATION MINISTER!
If the MOE is on extended sick leave or unable to fully execute her duties appoint an acting MOE . They are Acting PMs when MAM is away for short visits etc. Don’t put any undue pressure on the cancer victim unless u want her to be a cancer death?
About the CXC data or non-data, we cannot to expect to improve what we don’t measure. Then again we talking about the MOE and the attached civil service(permanent opposition).
Nuff talk about the children are our future; but when the rubber hit the road all I seeing is nuff nuff skid marks and a wrecked vehicle called “schooling” in the ditch smouldering.
Any i asking for too much?
If the MinOE is on extended sick leave or unable to fully execute her duties appoint an acting MinOE . They are Acting PMs when MAM is away for short visits etc. Don’t put any undue pressure on the cancer victim unless u want her to be a cancer death?
About the CXC data or non-data, we cannot to expect to improve what we don’t measure. Then again we talking about the MOE and the attached civil service(permanent opposition).
Nuff talk about the children are our future; but when the rubber hit the road all I seeing is nuff nuff skid marks and a wrecked vehicle called “schooling” in the ditch smouldering.
Am i asking for too much?
GP,
I have problems spelling education and counting to ten.
so did the last minister of education, Sir
Senator Lucille Moe appointed acting minister of education.
The Ministry of Education is clearly overworked: :
“Local CXC Registrar in the Ministry of Education Dr Roderick Rudder told Barbados TODAY he was unable to say how many of the 11,000 students were Barbadian.
“We have not gone into details in terms of looking at the national performance as yet because we were really and truly caught between facilitating our students who are applying for sixth form and we were at the tail end of dealing with the scholars and exhibitioners. So, we have not fully analyzed our statistics as yet, we are in the process of doing that,” Rudder said, adding that the ministry was in the process of doing some other “very critical things” at this point.
He explained that normally the ministry would have been able to provide the updated statistics on the CSEC results, but this year had been a challenge due to clashes with other key events.”
emmanuel joseph@barbadostoday.bb
@ Ping Pong 7.00 am
Jobby
@Bush Tea,
You are too unkind. The nice education ministry people are trying their best to assign all those children to sixth forms and determine the scholarship winners. This is really hard stuff.
@ Ping Pong
Local CXC Registrar in the Ministry of Education Dr Roderick Rudder told Barbados TODAY he was unable to say how many of the 11,000 students were Barbadian.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr Rudder must think Bushie is another brass bowl Bajan.
All he need to do is type into the shiite computer something like “Count for country = ‘Barbados’ and status =’Fail’ ” …..and the output will be there… takes about 30 seconds max…. (depending on how fast he can type…)
So obviously he is saying that ALTHOUGH HE KNOWS the answer, he is UNABLE to tell us ….because he has balls of putty and his shiite bosses are adept at squeezing them…. so we should piss off…
It may be better to stay silent and be thought to be another Froon, than to talk shiite and look like Stinkliar…
Agree this is a response that not only insults the intelligence of Barbadians including the media practitioners.
The reasons why children are underperforming are many and varied but I can attest to the fact that most children are not as interested as they should be. They do not read unless forced to do so.. There is an absence of hunger for knowledge or excellence. There seems to be no joy in learning. There are some children with learning disabilities, emotional and social problems that need help but many children who have none of these problems are just lazy and disinterested. They expect always to be entertained. They do not understand the benefits or the joy of accomplishment.
@ Donna
but many children who have none of these problems are just lazy and disinterested.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Excellent analysis.
Now here is the clincher…. WHY?
Is it because the children can see CLEARLY that the Emperor has no clothes?
Have you considered that the children may perceive that what we are trying to force them to learn is BARE SHIITE?
If you were a 12-year old right now, and some retarded looking teacher tells you that you must work hard, study hard, read shiite books and do homework …. SO THAT YOU WILL ONE DAY BE SUCCESSFUL LIKE HIM … or even like GP …. or indeed like the typical brass bowl Bajan who generally slaves for some foreigner – be it Massy, a Trickidadian or Canadian bank, a Canadian power company, an Irish hotel …. or some local albino-centric enterprise…
….EXACTLY how enthusiastic would YOU be….?
Perhaps the children are trying to tell us something IMPORTANT….
Ultimately, the responsibility for publishing the CXC results is the minister’s. But, as we know, the minister is ill. It therefore falls on the prime minister to say where education falls in her great plans for the nation and, starting with this year’s CXC results, how she plans to resolve the matter. If she wants, she can also ask her Chinese PR man to arrange a press conference to make the announcement. Are there any education consultants?
Bush Tea
The “trilldren” ain’t telling us one shirt! Wheel and come again!
Bushie,
I do think that the young people see far more than I did at their age and are therefore more cynical. At the same time if we are going to move forward we have to change the system and sitting around idle is not going to do that. If we need re-educating to work in our own best interests then let us get started. I made up my mind quite early that I wasn’t going to slave for any white man and have taught my son the same. I however am a one on one operative or a small group operative not a big player. Where is the leader who will start the movement for national re-education?
I LIKE TO WATCH ANIMAL PLANET AND SEE THE YOUNG ANIMALS “AT PLAY”
THEIR “PLAY” PREPARES THEM FOR THEIR FUTURE (EVEN THOUGH THEY MIGHT NOT REALIZE IT) AND IS VERY PRACTICAL.AND THEY SEEM TO ENJOY IT
THEIR “PLAY” IS IN A SENSE MUCH LIKE OUR GOING TO SCHOOL, IN THAT IT IS INTENDED TO INCULCATE CERTAIN DISCIPLINES.
WE NEED TO MAKE SCHOOL MORE FUN. THERE SHOULD ME A GREAT DEAL OF LAUGHTER IN THE CLASSROOM. I CERTAINLY ENSURE THERE IS FUN AND LAUGHTER IN MY CLASSROOMS.
MY BEST TEACHERS ALL MADE US LAUGH
I REMEMBER ONCE IN A CLINIC AT MONA, THE INDIAN PROF IN SURGERY DECLARED WITH A VERY SERIOUS FACE “NEVER MISS CHANCE TO FEEL WOMAN’S BREAST, WHETHER SOCIALLY OR PROFESSIONALLY.”
ALL 22 OF US LAUGHED LOUDLY AND LONG.
WHEN WE WERE ALL FINISHED, THE PROF CONTINUED ” OR YOU WILL MISS CHANCE TO DIAGNOSE CANCER!
THE LESSON WAS LEARNED.
STUDENTS WHO FAIL TO PALPATE THE FEMALE BREAST IN CLINICAL SURGICAL EXAMS FAIL THE ENTIRE EXAM IN SURGERY ON THE SPOT!
I WAS ONCE ACCUSED INCORRECTLY OF TELLING A PATIENT TO “GIVE THE BUBBY TO THE HUBBY”
WHAT I DID SAY IN STRESSING BREAST FEEDING WITH CONCOMITANT LAUGHTER WAS “BREAST IS BEST FOR ALL BABIES ………….AND ALL MALES IRREGARDLESS TO THEIR AGE.”
I HAVE HAD MY FUN AND ENGAGED IN PLAY FOR TODAY. AH GONE TO REDO MY CXC’S
@ Ping Pong
Perhaps you just ain’t listening…. But they are shouting long and hard
As a boss bushman once said, suffer the little children, ….for OF SUCH is the kingdom of Heaven.
@ Donna
You have always been an outlier… Don’t let them change you….
Children are largely untainted with the brass bowlery that we adults have imbibed and assimilated.
They are like like pure vessels open to be filled…. and we are offering them a lotta shiite…
If it is so obvious to us here on BU, that we are dealing in jobby….wunna think the trildren foolish?
Name the role models among us that SHOULD inspire a bright young INTELLIGENT child to do the hard work needed to become like that role model…
CSEC and CAPE results come out today. The ministry of education must publish the results for each individual secondary school.
The president wants UWI Cave Hill renamed to honour Owen Arthur. Is she nuts?
Here is an example of a ship that is sinking and the occupants still think it is a lovely voyage. Nearly half our 16 yr olds have failed their CSEC maths exams, and the authorities see this as a slight improvement on last year.
The reality is that this is a crisis, our young people are ill-equipped to work in modern technological or financial industries. Any able 14 ye old should be able to pass CSEC maths with ease, and a bright 12 yr old would walk this.
We now want reports to be made public on the performance on each individual secondary school. The ministry owes this to the public of Barbados.
There have been slight improvements in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) results this year.
Delivering a report at today’s media briefing to announce the official release of the July 2020 examination results, at CXC Headquarters in the Pine, St Michael, Director of Operations Examination Services Division, CXC, Nicole Manning, said, the performance of candidates in CSEC Mathematics showed a marked improvement when compared to 2019 and a slight improvement when compared to 2018.
“We saw 52 per cent of our candidates attaining acceptable grades of 1 to 3 in 2020 in CESC Mathematics, when compared to 46 percent in 2019 and 49 percent in 2018.
“The percentage of our candidates attaining Grade 1 also improved. With 12 per cent of our candidates attained Grade 1 in 2020 when compared to eight per cent in 2019 and 11 per cent in 2018,” Manning said.
Manning also revealed that in the CSEC English A, the performance of candidates this year also showed a slight improvement when compared to 2019, and a marked improvement when compared to 2018.
She said 82 per cent of candidates attained Grades 1 to 3 in 2020 in English A, when compared to 79 per cent in 2019 and 71 per cent in 2018. She said the percentage of candidates attaining Grade 1 in English A also improved, with 23 per cent attaining Grade 1 in 2020 when compared to 22 per cent in 2019 and 18 per cent in 2018.
Manning also said there were also improvements in the candidates’ performance in Chemistry. Biology, Physics and Integrated Science.
Also giving an example of the CAPE results, Manning said that overall the performance of candidates in 2020 was relatively consistent with previous years with 98 per cent attaining acceptable grades of 1 to 5, when compared to 97 per cent in 2019 and 2018.
Manning said the percentage of candidates attaining Grade 1 in Caribbean Studies improved with 24 per cent attaining Grade 1 in 2020 when compared to 20 per cent in 2019 and 2018.
The Director of Operations said for Communication Studies the performance of candidates was relatively consistent with previous years, with 96 per cent attaining acceptable grades when compared to 96 per cent in 2019 and 97 per cent in 2018.
“For CAPE Pure Mathematics Unit 1 we saw the performance of our candidates showing an increase when compared to previous years. Seventy-two per cent of our candidates attained acceptable grades when compared to 71 per cent in 2019 and 68 percent in 2018.
“The percentage of our candidates attaining Grade 1, we saw an increase here where we had 22 per cent of our candidates attaining Grade 1 in 2020 when compared to 18 per cent in 2019 and of course a similar percentage remaining constant with 22 in 2018,” she said…..(Quote)
Is Barbados still the ‘best educated’country in the Caribbean? Is there a crisis in our educational system? Is the call to get rid of the 11+ a reflection of this dumbing down?
How to Lie With statistics.
We saw 52 per cent of our candidates attaining acceptable grades of 1 to 3 in 2020 in CESC Mathematics
In other words: Around half of students failed to get an “acceptable grade” in Maths
“She said 82 per cent of candidates attained Grades 1 to 3 in 2020 in English A,”
In other words : About 1 in 4 got unacceptable grades in English
“Also giving an example of the CAPE results, Manning said that overall the performance of candidates in 2020 was relatively consistent with previous years with 98 per cent attaining acceptable grades of 1 to 5”
This is a useless statistic.
Is no one in Barbados interested in these things?
If nearly half our 16 yr olds fail to reach an acceptable passing mark in CSEC maths, is this not a crisis? How are we going to tackle this attainment gap?
Is this not an issue for our politicians, parents, and the general public?
@Hal
It is shameful. They treat the test scores like state secrets. Aren’t parents interested in how their children’s schools are performing?
I also suspect the 11+ performances are on the decline. They only release the top performers and the mean scores so that the bright kids scoring say 80+ mask the performance of the underperformers. Without this information it is hard to measure and compare the performance of individual schools and the school system as a whole.
@ Dullard
We can make certain assumptions about the 11+ from the outcomes. There is a reason why those who are privately educated come top of the exams.
It is not a problem because the middle class professionals send their children to fee-paying schools. I suspect the same with the CSEC and CAPE exams.
The ones that fail are the ordinary working class children; the ones that come top are the children of the professional classes that can afford private tuition. They ae also the ones who press for ‘free’ university education.
These exams will determine the life chances of these young people and, of course, Barbadians care more about shopping than the futures of their children.
It is a failed society. It will end in tears.
Google CEO is an Indian
2. Microsoft CEO is an Indian
3. Citigroup CEO was an Indian
4. SoftBank Vision Fund CEO is an Indian
5. Adobe CEO is an Indian
6. NetApp CEO is an Indian
7. PepsiCo CEO was an Indian
8. Nokia CEO is an Indian
9. MasterCard CEO is an Indian
10. DBS CEO is an Indian
11. Cognizant CEO was an Indian
12. Novartis CEO is an Indian
13. Conduent CEO was an Indian
14. Diageo CEO is an Indian
15. SanDisk CEO was an Indian
16. Motorola CEO was an Indian
17. Harman CEO is an Indian
18. Micron CEO is an Indian
19. Palo Alto Networks CEO is an Indian
20. Reckitt Benckiser CEO is an Indian
21. Now IBM CEO is also an Indian origin guy
22. Britain’s Chancellor is an Indian
23. Britain’s Home Secretary is an Indian
24. Ireland’s Prime minister was an Indian.
25 Britain’s attorney general is an Indian
26 Britain’s business secretary is an Indian
That is the result of India policy since early fifties to focus on education.
Will the president intervene in the CXC scandal, or will she do so only if it is covered by CNN?