The Caribbean Examiner • Vol 9 • No 1 • May 2011

The Caribbean Examiner
Jamaican Students doing well in CSEC Subjects
Industrial Arts subjects from the norm of student
performance in subjects which prepare them for
employment warrants further attention. The
CXC is currently reviewing the Industrial Arts
syllabus and is considering the possibility of
adopting a competency-based approach to its
Industrial Arts offerings. If pursued, this is likely
to require a different approach to the preparation
of students and this is likely to see much
larger proportions of students demonstrating
acceptable performance in the relevant CSEC
examinations. I wish to call attention to the
fact that the very nature of the practical and
technical subjects in which students performed
so well requires an approach to teaching that is
largely competency-based and this might well be
a contributory factor to the commendable levels
of achievement noted. Perhaps, a competencybased
approach to teaching other CSEC subjects
should be adopted.
I am of the view that students are doing
well in those subjects where they can make the
nexus between what is taught and critical skills
needed for the destination to which most of them
will proceed upon graduating from school. It is
time we eschew the grammar school education
on which so much of the gloom and doom
analysis of the CSEC results rests and recognize
the value of the reformed educational outcomes
that we have for years championed. Our students
are doing well. Over 80 per cent of them are
doing well in the subjects that should equip
them with knowledge and skills for destinations
“Over 80 per cent of them
are doing well in the subjects
that should equip them
with knowledge and skills
for destinations where
they can make meaningful
contributions to areas of
need in the economy.”
where they can make meaningful contributions
to areas of need in the economy. Let us remove
the barriers that we seem to be placing on the
proper utilization of the skills of these graduates
in entry level employment for which the majority
of them are properly prepared.
Lest it appears that I am ignoring the need
for good communication and numeracy skills,
let me hasten to clear the air. I believe that
these are important life skills, but that does not
translate into the requirements of the current
CSEC English A and Mathematics syllabuses.
Note that the practical and technical subjects in
which students have performed so well required
considerable writing skills. Note also, that
even when students earn the highest grade in
CSEC English A, we still hear that they do not
demonstrate satisfactory language competence
at work and at institutions of further education
to which some of them proceed.
I believe that students should develop
and demonstrate good communication skills,
including good reading, writing, listening
and speaking skills that they are required to
demonstrate at work and for further studies. A
course which emphasizes the development of
these communications skills at the CSEC level
should be an integral part of the preparation
of students for their various destinations. The
current CSEC English A syllabus does not have
that emphasis. Similarly, a CSEC course which
provides students with mathematical skills that
have a clear nexus with issues with which they
have to treat in their daily existence, and in
entry-level jobs, will be more meaningful. These
offerings of more functional communication
skills and mathematical skills may be added to
the current CSEC offerings.
Professor Griffith is
Professor of Research,
Measurement and
Evaluation at the School
of Education, UWI, Mona
Campus in Jamaica. He is
also a former Pro Registrar
of CXC. This article was
original published in the
Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.
SUBJECTS
NO. WRITING EXAM
NUMBER
CANDIDATES OBTAINING GRADES I-III
PERCENTAGE
Agricultural Science (Single Award) 2125 1886 89
Agricultural Science (Double Award) 355 325 92
Building Technology - Construction 693 570 82
Building Technology - Woods 815 561 69
Clothing and Textiles 1426 1156 81
Electrical and Electronic Technology 1976 947 48
Electronic Doc. Preparation and Management 3329 2983 90
Food and Nutrition 4737 4148 88
Home Economics: Management 3425 2954 86
Information Technology - General Proficiency 308 260 85
Information Technology - Technical Proficiency 13086 11312 86
Mechanical Engineering Technology 1011 607 60
Office Administration 7145 6048 85
Physical Education and Sports 1431 1372 96
Theatre Arts 311 265 85
Visual Arts 1978 1526 77
www.cxc.org MAY 2011 29