96 percent passes in CSEC Business and sciences for Adult Education

A fluctuation in Mathematics and English grades and close to 100 percent passes in business and science-related subjects were the preliminary findings for the Department of Adult and Continuing Education (DACE) in the May/June Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

This year’s performance was discussed by DACE’s Zonal Coordinator for Zone 6, Kenlyn Butler-Medley during a September 10, 2024 press conference held as part of the department’s week of activities.

The department registered just over 500 students for this year’s exams, however there were fewer candidates who sat the exams.

Butler-Medley told attendees at the press conference that the results in the “heavier subjects”- Mathematics and English, saw a shift in grades.

“For those we had fluctuation with the pass rate. For example with English, we saw a 20 percent increase in those who got [Grade] Two’s and Three’s but we saw a decrease in Grade One’s. In Mathematics there was the same thing, increase in Grade Three’s but decrease in Grade One’s and Two’s. So that is something we need to look into to see what we can do to keep those Grade One’s and Two’s up.”

DACE has been offering subjects at the CXC level for the last 10 years and has been seeing an increase in the number of students taking the regional exams.

For science and business subjects, Butler-Medley said this year repeated the trend of high performance.

“We see the trend that those classes results will continue to rise. We always have more than 95 percent in terms of the pass rate. For all of the Business subjects and the Science subjects we saw a record of 96 percent passes and that is more than we had last year.”

She highlighted a concerning trend of student dropouts, which she said could be blamed on various challenges, or even job opportunities which happen after a student has signed up for classes.

“We know that as adults, we have our various struggles and things that would happen to us. A lot of times, our goals and ambitions would have to take the back burner in those times…please reach out to somebody.”

Senior Education Officer with Administrative Control of DACE, Desiree Richards, said senior officials in the department have also recognized the trend of the lapse in attendance. She said it complicates the matter of payments to facilitators and added that discussions are ongoing on strategies to ensure that students remain consistent to classes.

“The slackening off of the attendance happens after registration in general… once they would have signed up for the CSEC exams, they slacken off. Sometimes it is worrying that we have to be making payments to facilitators and it doesn’t seem cost-effective because they don’t have the bulk they would have had the year started. “

Richards also said that DACE is currently in a restructuring phase to ensure payments to facilitators are “impactful”. In March 2023, adult education facilitators aired their frustrations about consistently late payments. At the time, senior education officials disclosed that improvements were being made to ensure greater efficiency in the payment process.

For the upcoming academic year, the department will be offering skills training in carpentry, technical drawing, home makers, beauty therapy, and small appliance repairs. Basic, CCSLC and CSEC Mathematics is also being offered.

Adult and Continuing Education classes are free and registration begins on September 30, 2024.

The week of activities closes out with an Arts & Craft Exhibition today, Friday September 13,2024 at the old treasury building.