The St. Ignatius Secondary School in the Rupununi has achieved a 73% pass rate at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, up from 46% last year.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek News last week, Headmistress Yevette Archer-Alexander said that although there was a marked improvement, the results fell short of her projections by 7%.
She said that the school got 9% Grade Ones, 30% Grade Twos and 34% Grade Threes, with 100% passes (Grades One through Three) in Agricultural Science, Food and Nutrition, Geography, Office Administration, and Technical Drawing.
The headmistress also told Stabroek News that there were 96% passes in Integrated Science; 91% in Social Studies and 84% in Biology. She was worried, however, that the pass rate (Grades One through Three) for Mathematics was only 26%.
Archer-Alexander said that when she took over the school in April last year, preparations were well underway for the exams. She said that for the next term she observed patterns and implemented changes as time went by. She said that those changes obviously bore some fruit.
Among the things that the headmistress was concerned about was the syllabus. She said that she discovered that several aspects of the syllabi were outdated and therefore not relevant to the curriculum. She said that she immediately set about updating it.
The headmistress also told this newspaper that she had formed a team which did a critical analysis of the 2009 results to determine what had influenced the poor showing.
Subsequently, she said, a plan of action was fashioned and this has reaped immediate success. The headmistress also said that she got excellent responses from teachers, parents and the students themselves and this resulted in a tripartite partnership which “obviously reaped some success.”
The St. Ignatius Secondary School head also attributed the improvements to the regular ‘pep talks’ she had with the Fifth formers. “I think those talks were a motivator for the students to do well,” the headmistress informed Stabroek News.
Archer-Alexander also disclosed that according to her projections for 2011 the pass rate will be 90% and in 2012, 100%. She said that towards this end, there will be some restructuring to allow the more experienced teachers to work with the Forms 1, 3 and 5 students. These forms, she noted, were the critical ones since the students have to write examinations at those stages.
Meanwhile, the headmistress paid tribute to the two top performers at this year’s CSEC sitting.
Yusuf Abraham secured distinctions in Agricultural Science, Food and Nutrition, Integrated Science and Human and Social Biology. He secured Grade ones in English A, Mathematics, and Social Studies and a Grade 2 in Technical Drawing.
Jewel King secured a distinction in Human and Social Biology, Grade Ones in Agricultural Science and English A, Grade Twos in Food and Nutrition, and Mathematics, and Grade Threes in Biology, Chemistry, and Social Studies.
Other students who performed creditably were Lianne James with 2 Grade Ones, 3 Grade Twos and 3 Grade Threes; Cleveland Charles with 1 Grade One, 5 Grade Twos, 1 Grade Three and a Grade Four; Elita Marco with 2 Grade Ones, 3 Grade Twos, and 3 Grade Threes; Myron Wilson with 1 Grade One, 4 Grade Twos, 3 Grade Threes and a Grade 4.
Maurice Philips who only wrote 2 subjects secured the other Grade One in Mathematics. The school was able to secure not one, but two Grade Ones in Mathematics in at least 15 years.
“I am very proud that we have achieved so much in so little time. It can only get better,” a beaming headmistress told Stabroek News.
She accredited the successes to the partnerships and thanked all the teachers for assisting her in making the job easier. She also thanked the parents for showing the interest.
She said that she knew many of the students attended private lessons and that was commendable since those lessons obviously cost the parents much needed cash. Finally, the headmistress thanked the students for displaying such maturity and dedication and they worked hard and deserved all the kudos.
St. Ignatius Secondary School was featured recently in this newspaper which highlighted the many difficulties that the students faced daily. The headmistress said that despite those difficulties the students rose above them and did the school and the region proud.
