–?? ?Overall pass rate declines slightly By Latoya Giles Sixteen-year-old Sarah Hakh of Abram Zuil Secondary, has been adjudged this year’s top student for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination after obtaining 16 grade ones. She was followed by Jessica Anthony of Queen’s College, who gained 14 grade ones and two grade twos.Minister of Education Priya Manickchand made the announcement yesterday morning. According to the Minister,NFL Jerseys China Cheap, there has been an overall decline in the performance of students regionally especially in the areas of Mathematics and English.? She said that has now become a cause for concern for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), which issued a statement yesterday to this effect. She indicated that based on the statistics,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, Guyana has an overall six percent decline.Manickchand said that based on the performance in the May/June 2012 CSEC, CXC has called for action in the region to address deficiencies in the subjects.She said that for this year, 33 per cent of the entries for Mathematics achieved Grades I — III, which are the acceptable grades at CSEC. However this is a further decline in performance when compared with the last two years. The minister explained that in 2011, 35 per cent earned similar grades and in 2010 the figure stood at 41 per cent.Manickchand further stated that the CXC body reporting on the performance of the subject to the Final Awards Committee, the Subject Awards Committee (SAC), said it was “deeply concerned about the quality of work produced by candidates at this level.”“Topics such as the range, perimeter, and profit and loss that should be covered at the lower secondary level were not fully understood,” the SAC reported.On one question which tested perimeter and area, 36 per cent of the candidates scored no marks. Similarly, on a question which tested algebra, 33 per cent of the candidates scored zero.According to the Minister, the SAC has called on the region to address the issue of teaching and performance in Mathematics by re-organizing its Mathematics programme, supporting teacher training and facilitating access to instructional resources.Moreover, Manickchand said that for the third consecutive year, overall performance in the May/June examination has declined. She said that this year 62 per cent of the candidate entries achieved Grades I – III, the acceptable grades; this compared with 66 per cent in 2011 and 69 per cent in 2010.Of the 62 per cent achieving acceptable grades, 11.30 gained Grade I, 22.39 gained Grade II and 28.46 per cent gained Grade III, Manickchand disclosed.Thirty-five (35) subjects were offered for the May/June examination this year: performance improved on nine subjects,Jerseys From China, declined on 19, remained the same on six and one new subject, Additional Mathematics was offered for the first time. Fifty-eight per cent of the entries for Additional Mathematics achieved acceptable grades.The minister said that after an upward trend for the last three years, performance on English A has declined significantly this year. Forty-seven per cent of the entries for English A achieved Grades I – III this year compared with 67 per cent in 2011, representing a 20 per cent decline.She said that this year was the first examination since the revised syllabus took effect. The Subject Awards Committee attributed the decline to less than satisfactory performance on Paper Two, the Essay Paper. Manickchand said that the SAC noted that this decline was most obvious in the summary and comprehension questions.“The SAC has suggested that teaching of the language must enable students to move away from prescribed and rehearsed answers seen in some questions, to the point where they can effectively and appropriately use rhetorical devices that enrich expression and facilitate comprehension” the minister stated.On English B, performance also declined the minister said when it was compared with 2011, but not as dramatic as on English A. This year, 68 per cent of entries achieved acceptable grades, compared with 71 per cent in 2011. This was the first year the revised syllabus was being examined. The Subject Awards Committee reported that candidates’ performance fell down mainly on the Poetry Profile, and this decline affected the overall performance of the subject. Performance on the other two Profiles, Drama and Prose Fiction remained relatively stable.Meanwhile in Guyana for 2012,Cheap Jerseys, Manickchand said that there has been an increase in the number of candidates who did the CSEC examination. The minister noted that private candidates amount to approximately 38% of the total entries.? She said that some 13,878 students wrote the exam which saw a