The Ministry of Education has revealed that Dominica has recorded a significant improvement in the number of student passes at the 2013 May/June CSEC Examinations.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning Chief Education Officer Melina Fontaine, said that despite reports of poor performance across the Caribbean region, Dominica’s performance is satisfactory.
“We have received the regional average and in comparison, in Dominica we will see that we are working, we have a lot of work to do but we are working. The Caribbean average overall for 2013 is 65 percent; for Dominica, it is 75 percent. In 2012, it was 62 percent; in Dominica, we were 65 percent. For Mathematics, the Caribbean average is 35 percent and Dominca, 36 percent; for language it is 57 percent; for Dominica, it is 73.3 percent,” Fontaine said.
She pointed out that although there is much need for improvement in Mathematics, in Language, Dominica is doing very well.
Meanwhile, Minister for Education and Human Resource Management Petter Saint Jean, remarked that his ministry understands that there are still some learners that need to be reached out to, in order to keep increasing achievement rates.
“The Ministry of Education remains committed to ensuring that every learner achieves educational growth in a safe and caring environment,” he said. “It means we must put the necessary structures in place to ensure that they achieve the kind of success that prepares them for productive lives in a competitive global environment.”
Saint Jean attributed knowledgeable, skilled teachers as the major contributing factor to increased student achievement. He noted further that under the Dominica Enhancement Project, training in Mathematics for five teachers at the Bachelor’s degree level and $347,000.00 has been invested on Mathematics resources and consultancies.
Saint Jean said that Mathematics remains a sore point for the Ministry and thus students cannot be allowed to continue to under perform in that area.
1,040 students sat the 2013 May/June CSEC Examinations. Forty-two (42) students have attained six grade ones or better.
i wish we had a freedom of information act so that like other countries in the Caribbean the result is accessible for analysis by other government and civil organisations. A government would put a political spin on thing after all it wants to be seen in a good light. I believe open access and discussion by all stake-holders would benefit and advance greater educational gains
We need a new Goodwill Secondary School. That environment is not encouraging the students to learn.
When we get to at least 80% then we can celebrate. A national average of 36% in math is nonsense. That means the average high school graduate fails.
Oh hush up, any improvement in maths is appreciated.
Agreed, 36% is way too low, but it is a big improvement over last year’s 27% pass rate in Maths.
Congratulations to those who have done an excellent job and those who tried their best. I think a change of text books at infant primary school level should be considered. From what I understood from talking to high school students, there is a need for teachers to allow for questions from students during Maths lessons. Maths teachers should also consider grouping their students sometimes or if possible offer extra classes occasionally when the need arises.
WAW!!!!! Excellent!!! much Respect to our teachers.
The teachers are important too….they need to be able to convey the information for the students to understand
Students are more focused on their education and the parents show more interest…..
Some Students are focused,.I can tell you there are students teachers are almost begging them to do something and they will not bother to even try.
Some parents are concerned. Others do not even know if their child is attending school.
Thats so true!
TRUE SAY MY BOY/GIRL….
Thiny are you saying that teachers do not need to teach,, because according to you it seems the parents are the ones instructing their children? Are you doubting the contributions that dedicated teachers make?