Students not making it to University due to poor performance on Maths and English

Statistics from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) show that from 2018 to now, the region has been losing almost 11,500 students on average who will not fully matriculate into a university setting due to poor performance in two key subject areas.

This according to Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the (CXC), Dr. Wayne Wesley, is because they fail Mathematics, English, or both at the CXC level, and as a result are unable to pursue higher education, or are obligated to do resits.

Dr. Wesley spoke about this issue on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 in Dominica while addressing the CXC’s official results release press conference for the 2024 May-June CXC Examinations.

The education professional said students are left out of the higher education cycle because both Mathematics and English are the foundation, “on which anything else can be acquired or learned or achieved…”.

He said that when one looks at the results every year over the last five years, there are more students registering for Mathematics than there are for English. On average about 79,000 persons register for Mathematics and about 73,000 persons register for English.

Dr. Wesley said when the performance of English over that period is analysed, it shows the average performance is around 79/80 percent, while the average performance on Mathematics is between 55 to about 59 percent.

“…in fact, if we really strictly apply the entire cohort, you’re actually about 44 percent.

“This year the performance in Mathematics is a bit lower than last year…when we did further analysis as to the acquisition of five subjects or more, we recognize…about six percent of the entire population of persons registered for the exam getting five or more, the CXC official noted.

“When we indicate and do further probing, we recognize that when we make the restriction five subjects, including Mathematics and English, that drops to 4.9 per cent.
“What that tells me, or tell tells us, is that from 2018 to now, every year, we would have been losing almost 11,500 students on average who will not fully matriculate into University because you need Math and English.”
He noted that this means that 11,500 students will be underemployed if they are employed at all.

“…because if you don’t have Maths and English employers are going to pay you less,” he said, pointing out therefore that there are students who will not realize their full potential.
“…and most importantly it is having a negative effect on the economic competitiveness of the region because you’re having less students being able to drive the innovation that is required for the economy to advance, and for critical thinking and problem-solving attitudes to be developed,” Dr. Wesley stressed. He said the region is in a very challenging time and greater attention need to given to Mathematics and English.

“Let’s ensure that students leaving the school system if they don’t have anything else, let’s ensure that they are numerate and literate,” the CXC CEO urged. He said that CXC has already commissioned a team to begin to develop standards for literacy and numeracy and those standards will be used along with the incorporation of artificial intelligence, “for us to be able to design targeted intervention…”.

Dr. Wesley also explained that the intervention has to be a collective effort between the CXC, Ministries of Education, teachers, education officers, government, and the community.
“…collectively…together, [we]will have to sit down and figure a way to correct this serious problem impacting the development of the human capital of the region.

“We live in a digitalized world and this is the only world our millennials know. It is a world that requires them to be digitally literate, and for regional education and training systems to rise to the moment…,” the educator commented.
He said also that data supports that students are aware of the new digital paradigm and this is evidenced by the growing rate of passes in digital subjects.

“We know that these results can be far greater if we find a way to successfully engage our students to excel in Mathematics and English at CXC. We realize the exciting potential of artificial intelligence and tools like chat GPT to be leveraged in the learning and development process to excite and engage our students for all subject areas,” the CEO further added.

He said that CXC is exploring AI tools to help the system and to enhance the teaching and learning process, and soon they will be able to share what they have learnt and how to deploy it for swift and vast results.