Trinidad and Tobago exceeds region in CSEC maths with 42% pass rate

WHILE almost two-thirds of pupils in the Caribbean failed CSEC maths, pupils in Trinidad and Tobago were among the region's best performers, according to figures sent to Newsday by Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.

While just 36 per cent of pupils in the region passed maths, this figure was 42 per cent in TT according to the minister's figures.

This information, taken along with news reports across the region, suggest TT pupils outperformed their peers from Jamaica and Guyana. An internet search revealed no details for Barbados and Grenada.

On August 20 in Dominica, at the Caribbean Examination Council's (CXC's) ceremony for the launch of individuals' CXC results, CXC director of operations Dr Nicole Manning said the pass rate for CSEC mathematics across the Caribbean was just 36 per cent of pupils.

She indicated this 36 per cent compared to 43 per cent last year, 37 per cent in 2022 and 34 per cent in 2021.

However Gadsby-Dolly told Newsday the TT pass rate for CSEC maths was 42.1 per cent this year. This 42.1 per cent compared to 50.5 per cent last year, 42.2 per cent in 2022, 47.3 per cent in 2021, 53.9 per cent in 2020, and 48.7 per cent in 2019, her figures showed.

Jamaica education minister Fayval Williams recently revealed the pass rate for CSEC maths among Jamaican pupils was just 33 per cent. Guyana chief education officer Saddam Hussein recently said the CSEC maths pass rate among Guyanese pupils was only 31 per cent (down from 34 per cent last year.)

TT also did relatively well in the number of pupils getting five-plus subjects including maths and English.

While Manning announced this as just 4.9 per cent regionally, Gadsby-Dolly had said it was 45 per cent in TT, while Williams said in Jamaica it was just 18 per cent. Newsday could not find figures for Guyanese pupils getting five-plus subjects including maths and English, although Hussein otherwise said overall Guyana had a CSEC pass rate of 67 per cent, basically the same as last year.