| Although the Ministry of Education has not yet released a statistical analysis of the 2015 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) which reflects an admitted decline in the performance of English, Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, has assured that remedial measures are already apace.Chief Education Officer, Olato SamThe measures of which Sam spoke were in motion a few years ago and have yielded some results. He pointed out that “one of the things about education is that sometimes these results take a little while to bear fruit but we are certainly encouraged by initial indications.”According to information out of the Ministry, while the 2015 NGSA results revealed a decline in English, improved performances were recorded in Mathematics,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, Science and Social Studies.But when the results were announced last year it reflected what was termed a “considerable improvement” in English with the performance of Mathematics being labelled as “still suffering.”Based on the Ministry’s statistical analysis, the 2014 results revealed that the performance in English improved – the percentage of candidates securing 50 per cent and more moved from 28.73 in 2013 to 51.92 in 2014. It was disclosed that all regions showed an increase of 9.6 per cent, except Region 10 and Georgetown, both of which exhibited performances of more than 25 per cent.While it has been acknowledged that private schools’ performances continue to be laudable this year and that girls continue to outperform boys, the Ministry is yet to publicise a statistical analysis of the 2015 NGSA.Nevertheless, Sam has alluded to primary grade assessment processes for the performance and evaluation of pupils among other strategic tactics aimed at improving the results produced at the NGSA level.“We are certainly continuing to bolster that effort; we are getting expert opinions and some capacity building exposure to ensure that our assessments help us plan more effectively for the primary grades,” asserted the CEO.And according to him, too, the literacy approaches embraced by the Ministry have been expanded even as he pointed out that the Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO – Primary), Marcel Hutson, has been working assiduously to provide some national awareness of employed approaches.The aim of this tactic, Sam said, is to “get buy in from parents and other stakeholders.”He recounted how the Ministry last year,Cheap China Jerseys, during the celebration of Education Month,Jerseys NFL Cheap, had disseminated some information in relation to what it is hoping to have unfolded in the school system. And the expected outcome, according to Sam,Chile Soccer Jersey, will not be limited to the schools but the homes in relation to “our parents supporting our efforts of improving our literacy output in our schools.”Moreover, he added that “we will continue to plug away in relation to those strategies and employ others that we will deem to be beneficial.”This is in light of Sam’s observation that “a one off assessment might not be a true assessment of the total trend.” He however noted that “…we are certainly looking at all of the indicators at the various levels and we will make corrections and adjustments as we go forward where necessary.”As part of its strategic intervention, the Ministry is also moving towards consultation with the Caribbean Examination Council, the regional examining body.This move, Minister of Education,Cheap Sports Jerseys, Rupert Roopnaraine, has said, is aimed at improving the National Grade Two Assessment (NGTA),cheap nfl jerseys, the National Grade Four Assessment (NGFA) and NGSA.Currently the ascension to secondary schools require that five per cent of each candidate’s NGTA score in Mathematics and English and 10 per cent of the NGFA score in the same subjects, be added to 85 per cent of each candidate’s NGSA score in the same subject areas. The combined scores in Mathematics and English are added to the scores gained in Science and Social Studies.And it is the expectation of the Minister that the move to consult with CXC will help to build capacity with a view of improving pupils’ performances not only nationally but at a Regional level. |
