Students express mixed feelings about their performance in CEE

Primary school students who sat the June 1 multiple choice component of the Common Entrance Examinations have expressed mixed feelings about their performance in the exams that will determine their placement in secondary schools come September.{{more}}

SEARCHLIGHT spoke with some of the students wrote last Friday’s exam. While some said that the exams were “easy”, others said they found them to be “a bit challenging.”

A total of 2141 students – 1088 boys and 1053 girls – were registered for the exam.

Last Friday, they wrote the multiple choice component at fifteen centres throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines.

SEARCHLIGHT visited two of the larger centres – the St Vincent Grammar School and the Girls’ High School in Kingstown. There, we met hundreds of parents gathered on the grounds outside the schools, awaiting their children. As the children exited the classrooms during the break for lunch, some parents were overheard asking their children “How was it, did you do well?” while others offered words of encouragement.

The Common Entrance candidates completed their Reading Assessment during the months of April and May and sat their Composition paper on May 25. Last Friday, they completed the Multiple Choice component of the examination in English, Mathematics and General Paper.

The English Language Paper consisted of 50 items to be completed in 75 minutes, whereas the Mathematics and General Paper examinations each tested students’ competencies on 60 items, to be completed in 90 minutes.

The number of students who sat the examination in 2011 was 2081, of whom 1061 were male and 1020 female. The percent pass rate in 2011 was 51.18.

It is anticipated that the results of this year’s exam should be made available to schools by Friday of this week, as over the last six years or so, the results of the exam have been released within one week of the sitting of the multiple choice component.