Campion High cops highest percentage of passes in CSEC
A summary of the results of students in Jamaica’s public secondary schools sitting the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) last June shows that Campion College had the highest percentage of students passing four or more subjects, inclusive of Mathematics and English Language.
The results, included in an analysis of the Jamaican candidates’ performance in the CSEC released by the Ministry of Education last week, show the traditional schools doing well in the crucial exams.
The CSEC is offered in 37 subjects by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), the regional certifying body. The exams are used by most students to matriculate into tertiary institutions, both locally and overseas.
The St Andrew-based Campion, which is the first choice for most high-performing students taking the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), had 215 out of 217 students in its grade 11 cohort gaining grades one to three in four or more subjects, including either English or mathematics, or both.
GSAT scholars must score above 94 per cent to gain a place at Campion, according to informed sources.
Eleven all-female institutions were included in the top 20 performing schools, while three all-male schools, Wolmer’s Boys, Kingston College and Munro College, made the top 20.
Nine schools had 90 per cent or more of their students gaining four subjects including English or Maths, while eight institutions had between 80 and 90 per cent of their students doing the same.
At the other end of the scale, the non-traditional high schools continue to perform poorly in the exams. Many did not have any students passing four or more subjects, including English or Maths.
However, non-traditional schools Gaynstead and Mona performed creditably, with 31.8 and 33 per cent respectively of their students gaining four or more subjects, with either English Language or mathematics.
Traditional powerhouses Calabar at 29.6 per cent and Jamaica College at 39.3 per cent have much work to do to reclaim their status among the country’s top schools in academic achievement.
