Are you ready for the World of Work ( in the digital era)

Within the OECS region, the major exit examination being conducted at the Form 5 Level is known as the CXC ( CSEC).  These exams provides the cumulative certification for students achievements after 16 years of schools. In reality most students complete their life-cycle of school by 17, with a few late starter and very few early starters.
So what does the CSEC provide for an OECS Citizen after 16 year of schooling.
Well largely speaking a certificate/transcript of their performance at the Year 5 exam.

While there is a lot that can be said about the CXC, the services offered to the Caribbean region is one that will stand for the years to come.
However, in recent time, going back as 2008/2009 the World bank along with other regional bodies formulated a newer concept of the educational system outputs at the Fifth Form Level, largely a world of work readiness measure.
Being a lay person, most data request will be for number of subjects student gained. It is always the case that schools after receiving their results goes for one or two major tables from their data.

Table 1 will be the number of students passing their subject  and the Table 2 will be the percentage pass of the entire school.

Thus school X may have 12 students gaining passes in 9 subjects and this will be a cause for great celebration for that school. Where as school Y may have 20 students gaining passes in 5 subjects, that is just, well nothing to shout about.......( KEEP CALM & KNOW THE TRUTH)

THE TRUTH

The truth lies in an agreement. A student at age 16 should complete their Secondary  stage and  have 5 passes - of which two of these passes should be in Mathematics and English A ( Language).

This  has been established as the common pathway to either :
A: Foundation for further Education
B: World Of Work

So take a look at the graphical data files and see what is is like for my nation over the past 5 year.

Students achieving 5 or more passes including a pass in English and Mathematics.

So while School X may be happy for student with 9 subjects, these students may not have met the basic agreed criteria. They may have had 9 passes, but are these passes inclusive of Mathematics and English A.

While there is an upward trend in 2014, there is a need to increase our strategic efforts to achieve this goal. It is agreed that a pass in Mathematics is a valuable asset. However few there be that find it.

Red Bars - I passed any 5 subject, Blue Bars - I passed 5 or more subject including English A and Maths.

Play your part. You can be an agent of change. To find out more about or gather data contact mychitterman@gmail.com