Grades 2 and 4 students doing poorly in Math, diagnostic tests reveal

Minister of Education Curtis King has highlighted areas of concern in Mathematics and Language Arts among primary school pupils in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

He did so while answering a question posed to him in Parliament on Thursday May 9, 2024.

Opposition Member of Parliament for the Southern Grenadines, Terrance Ollivierre asked about the diagnostic tests which were done among Grade 2 and Grade 4 students in Mathematics and Language Arts last year.

In answering the four part question, Minister King provided the House with a breakdown of the numbers of students in each category.

The minister explained that the results were based on four levels of performance: mastery, competence, developing competence, and critical.

Students at the critical level have little or no understanding of the knowledge and skills outlined in the syllabus.

A total of 1761 students wrote the Grade 2 Language Arts test, and 642 of them proved to be at the critical level, while only 60 obtained mastery.

The other students performed at the competence and developing competence levels.

For the Grade 2 Mathematics, 388 of the total 1754 students were at the critical level, while 267 obtained mastery.

In the Grade 4 Language Arts tests, 357 students were at the critical level, while 123 of them had obtained mastery.

A total of 1712 Students wrote the Grade 4 Language Arts test.

In the Grade 4 Mathematics exams, only 30 of the 1750 students obtained mastery, while 949 of them were deemed to be at the critical level.

In providing further analysis as he responded to the question, Minister King revealed that the exams were done in 13 districts across St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“The overall performance in mathematics is critical in all districts, with all districts showing less than 50% of their students operating at the competence and mastery levels.”

The minister added that the Ministry of Education will further analyse these results and work through the Curriculum Department to come up with the different interventions

that are required in the various schools.

The minister also noted that his ministry will work with the schools, with the hope of improving their performance.

While the results of the Grade 2 and 4 diagnostic tests may not be very encouraging, the Education Minister said students perform better when they write the external exams.