While there were improved performances in Science and Social Studies at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), “slight” decreases were recorded for Mathematics and English.
Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Director of Operations, Dr Nicole Manning made this announcement yesterday morning while presenting the 2022 examination report at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.
Since 2016, CXC has been contracted by the Government of Guyana to develop, administer, and mark this examination/ assessment annually.
Manning explained that the overall performance for Social Studies increased from 56% in 2021 to 58% this year. “We would have seen that there is a steady increase over the years. I am comparing five years now. And so, this is very impressive in terms of what’s happening for Social Studies,” she said.
But, despite the increase, there has been a climb in the number of candidates scoring zero marks, Manning said. “And so, useful, noteworthy, for Social Studies we would have had a reduction for the candidates scoring full marks and an increase in the number of candidates scoring no marks,” Manning pointed out.
Likewise, there was a significant increase in the performance for Science. “A good movement of almost 6 percent. From 40.12 to 46.45 percent,” Manning said
“In terms of the Sciences, full marks again (an) increase in the number of candidates scoring full marks for Science and a slight increase for the number of candidates receiving zero marks. But the Math and the Science I would say you did much better than the Social Studies and English,” she added.
However, “slight” reductions were recorded for English and Mathe-matics. Mathematics dropped from 36% to 34% and there was a “very great” increase in the number of candidates scoring full marks and candidates scoring zero marks. “So it’s an area for review,” Manning said.
English dropped from 65% in 2021 to 64% this year. English recorded the highest overall performance of 64% this year. Social Studies followed with 58%, Science with 46% and Mathematics 34%. “Remember, please remember that your Math and Science has been improving. So while it’s showing that it’s less than the English and the Social Studies, remember you had marked improvement in both of these areas,” Manning highlighted.
A total of 16, 223 students registered to sit the 2022 examination.
“Hard”
In delivering remarks before announcing this year’s top students, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said getting to this point was “hard” in light of the school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that a number of measures were put in place to ensure students were able to sit the examination. “We did that where they were calls for us to not write the NGSA, for us to postpone the NGSA, for us to postpone CSEC and CAPE, for teachers to stay home, for parents not to send their children to school. We had to block out the noise,” Manickchand said.
A number of new programmes were also rolled out to assist candidates, Manickchand said. “During the pandemic and our worse flood ever, without oil money, we provided to Grade 6 and Grade 5 children all the text books they needed. And for the first time ever, public school students received text books that only private school children and parents who could have ordered on Amazon or jumped on a plane and gone to Trinidad, could have received,” she explained.
“…We spoke to teachers more than we ever spoke to teachers before in the Grade 6 level. In short, there was a lot of work that went in to getting us here,” Manickchand said.
She further related that a lot of students also found the period “extremely” hard for various reasons.
“The children who are writing these exams stopped going to school in Grade 4. This is Grade 6. They didn’t have teaching the way we have all become accustom to teaching since Grade 4. We put them back in school…. Today, we see the benefit of that decision,” Manickchand said.
“Children during this period had great difficulties adjusting, learning and children had tragedies themselves,” she added.
The National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) was written on July 6 and 7, 2022.
Candidates were tested in four subjects namely; Mathematics, English, Science and Social-Studies. The examination in each subject area
consisted of two papers. Paper One consisted of forty multiple choice items while Paper Two consisted of essay type or open-ended questions.
The highest possible standardized scores obtainable were: Mathematics-137, English-125, Social Studies-126 and Science-133.
The highest possible total score obtainable was 523.
The cut-off mark for the top schools are Queen’s College-508, Bishops’ High -504, St. Stanislaus College -501, St. Rose’s High – 498, St. Joseph High – 495 and President’s College 488.
The Ministry of Education in a press release yesterday said President’s College is one of the A schools in Region 4. “Non-residential places are awarded to candidates in Region 4 from Mahaica to Cummings Lodge, who have attained a minimum score of 490 marks. Residential places are offered to candidates from Regions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 who have attained scores of 488 marks and above,” the release said.
A total of 231 candidates from schools in Regions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 are eligible for entry into the school.
