Education Sector Plan: Education for All: Embracing Change, Securing Finale | Page 30

Education for All: Embracing Change, Securing the Future
36% sat and passed Mathematics (37% in St. Kitts and 36% in Nevis), and 60% sat and passed ICT subjects. 25 Only
2–6% of students participated in critical TVET areas such as Mechanical Engineering, Agriculture, Electrical and
Electronic Technology, and Building Technology Construction (Caribbean Development Bank, 2015).
Table 4:
Average test of standards performance, 2011–2014 (%)
Nevis
2011
Grade 3
Grade 4
28
Grade 5
Grade 6
Language Arts
Ma thematics
Social Studies
Science
Total
Language Arts
Mathematics
Social Studies
Science
Total
Language Arts
Mathematics
Social Studies
Science
Total
Language Arts
Mathematics
Social Studies
Science
Total
St. Kitts
2012
2013
54
56
61 2012
58 2013
61 2014
65 2011
56 55 67 64 58 51 61 59
66 61 58 58 65 58 56
45 64 51 62 43 66 52
56 62 58 61 54 60 56
60 56 54 56 54 49 50
62 59 59 59 54 52 52
50 63 53 53 48 58 48
51 52 52 59 46 48 48
56 58 55 57 51 52 50
48 48 45 46 40 42 43
56 65 53 53 44 61 49
55 47 49 54 49 44 44
54 56 55 56 47 55 53
53 54 51 52 45 51 47
57 58 48 51 47 44 46
58 70 62 62 46 59 57
56
58
57 60
57
61 57
64
58 62
62
59 48
50
48 51
51
51 56
64
56
2014
59
53
54
61
57
54
55
53
44
52
41
46
53
48
47
52
53
53
55
53
Source: GoSKN, 2014c.
Furthermore, less than 25% of males and females who take CSEC exams pass at least five, including Mathematics and
English, which can be reduced to approximately 18% when the percentage of students sitting examinations is taken into
consideration. Because this level of attainment is the current threshold for many entry-level positions in the world of
work and for matriculation to many CFBC higher education programmes, it is cause for concern that so many students
leave without these basic qualifications. It must be noted, however, that while additional students are developing
fundamental literacy and numeracy skills assessed by the CXC Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence
(CCSLC), this examination is not uniformly implemented across institutions and, importantly, lacks currency for a few
reasons, chief among them being lack of recognition and value by employers and the wider community (see Figure 8).
Figure 8: Percentage of students achieving five CSEC subject passes including English and
Mathematics
40%
20%
0%
Male
2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Female
Year
Source: GoSKN, 2014c.
National and school-based assessments are heavily scrutinized for their inability to adequately measure the learning
of all students. The nationally organized primary school ToS and lower secondary school Common Exams are criticized
for their utility and relevance, as neither are tethered to specific competency standards for each grade. Using CSEC
examinations as the single determinant of secondary level achievement has also been criticized as this approach
25. This indicator was derived by dividing the reported pass rate for the subject by the percentage of students taking exams on each island
(69% in St. Kitts and 78% in Nevis).