Saturday, May 16, 2026

Another decline

Date:

Share post:

THE Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) has expressed concern over the continued struggles of students across the region with mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level.

Speaking at the official release of this year’s CSEC and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE) results in Dominica yesterday, CXC’s chief executive officer Dr Wayne Wesley spoke of a troubling trend.

“While students are performing reasonably well in English, with an average pass rate of 79-80 per cent over the past five years, mathematics results have consistently lagged behind, with an average pass rate of only 55-59 per cent,” he said.

This year’s results revealed an even further decline in maths, deepening concerns about the future prospects of thousands of students across the Caribbean. Wesley said these challenges extended beyond mere academic achievement, potentially affecting the region’s economic competitiveness and limiting students’ access to higher education and better employment opportunities.

“We are losing almost 11 500 students every year who will not fully matriculate into university because of deficiencies in mathematics and English,” he said.

Subscribe now to our eNATION edition for the full story.

For the latest stories and breaking news updates download the Nationnews apps for iOSand Android.

Related articles

Bar takes stand

Barbados Bar Association (BBA) president Larry Smith says their recent public notices regarding unqualified practitioners were not issued...

Man who hid fugitive jailed

The Christ Church man who hid a now-convicted murderer while he was on the run was sentenced to...

US planning to charge ex-Cuban leader Raúl Castro

The US justice department is reportedly preparing to indict aging Cuban leader Raúl Castro in the coming days...

Imposter student attempts to sit exam

The Barbados Community College confirmed an incident yesterday involving a breach of its Academic Dishonesty Policy during an...