Guyana President wants regional leaders to discuss poor performances in CSEC maths

Guyana President Irfaan Ali says the poor performance of Caribbean students in mathematics is a matter of concern for regional leaders and that the matter needs to be fully ventilated.

The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) last month reported that only 36 per cent of students across the region received passing grades for mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), a seven percentage point decrease compared to last year. CXC’s Director of Operations, Dr Nicole Manning emphasized the need for improvement in each territory.

Addressing the commissioning of the new Yarrowkabra Secondary School, President Ali that the matter will be discussed by regional leaders even as he suggested that declining grades in mathematics might be due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The issue of mathematics has now captured the attention of every single head of state and prime minister in the region, and it is now an agenda for the Heads of Government in CARICOM. That is to tell you the issues and challenges that we face,” Ali told the ceremony.