There has been an increase in the number of students scoring above average in Mathematics.
This was revealed on Thursday by officials of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), as they delivered the results of May/June 2023 examinations during a ceremony in St Kitts.
Director of Operations with CXC Dr Lisa Manning said that overall, students did well in the various examinations.
Only 43 per cent of students in the region had passed CSEC mathematics.
This follows the scrapping of the mathematics paper two (long answer) exam following a leak of the exam paper.
Dr Manning said more attention should be paid to specific areas, including the School-Based Assessments (SBAs) due to an increase in non-submission. She also expressed concern about absenteeism from examinations and cheating.
The council noted that there was an increase in the number of candidates and subject entries in this year’s examinations administered by the CXC, including in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE), the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), and the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ).
Manning also indicated that the investigation into the leaked Mathematics paper two in Jamaica in May, for which CXC was forced to adjust its marking scheme using a modified approach, was still ongoing.
“The investigation continues within territory and we are working with the police to close that matter,” she said.
The modified approach to marking this year’s Maths paper included the use of the SBAs and paper one scores.
For the CSEC Mathematics exam, there was an overall improvement in performance at 43 per cent, up from 37 per cent last year and 41 per cent the prior year.
The number of grade ones was up slightly, from 6 per cent last year to 8 per cent. There was also a two per cent increase in the number of grade twos and grade threes for this subject to reach 14 per cent.
The CXC results were released in a staggered format, with CAPE and CCSLC released around 6pm yesterday while the CSEC results were released at midnight, following a delay.