Back on track

This year’s performance of Jamaican students in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations has been highlighted as “very encouraging”, with the country showing marked improvements in English language and mathematics, with the English language pass rate surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

“In terms of English … we are back to where we need to be and then we can now move forward from there. In terms of mathematics, still not at pre-pandemic, but we are better than we were last year, and we are better than the regional average,” said Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, minister of education, skills, youth and information, during a press conference at her ministry’s offices in Kingston yesterday. The press conference was held to provide a report on Jamaica’s performance in the 2025 CSEC/CAPE examinations.

In the May-June examination administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), 44 per cent of students earned grades one to three in mathematics, compared with 39 per cent last year.

A similar improvement was recorded in English language, with 85 per cent of students achieving grades one to three, compared with 76 per cent last year.

In 2019, Jamaica recorded a pass rate for mathematics of 54 per cent, while English language had a pass rate of 82 per cent.

Additionally, 19.2 per cent of students achieved five or more subjects, inclusive of mathematics and English language, up from 18 per cent last year.

Above the regional averages

Morris Dixon also noted that Jamaican students performed above the regional averages in these key subject areas.

The average regional pass rate for mathematics is 39 per cent, while English A had a regional average of 80 per cent.

“We are so very happy that despite all of the challenges we have coming out of COVID, Jamaica is looking much, much better,” she said.

She noted that these improvements were as a result of strategic interventions by the Ministry of Education including mathematics and literacy camps across the island, and expanded extra lessons and homework programmes in underperforming schools.

Additionally, she said specialist teachers for mathematics and English were also deployed across these schools, and technology integrated into lesson plans.

“There was a lot of work that went into this academic year by the ministry team, and I commend them,” she said. “What we were saying to our children is that you matter, and especially to our children in those schools that Jamaicans and many people just see as an underperforming school, we said to those children, you matter,” she said.

The minister also highlighted that 56 high schools that were placed on the National School Learning and Intervention Plan recorded better results for English language and mathematics this year compared with 2024, with 47 of the 56 schools showing better performance in mathematics.

These include Edwin Allen High School, in Clarendon, which has increased its pass rate from 24.5 per cent to 74.1 per cent, Cross Keys High School in Manchester, which has moved from a pass rate of 7.7 per cent to 40 per cent, and St James High School, moving from 26.5 per cent to 40.5 per cent.

Schools that have shown improvement in English language passes include Charlie Smith High School in Kingston, moving from 13.1 per cent to 75 per cent, Bustamante High School, in Clarendon which jumped from 12.1 per cent to 51.9 per cent, and Fair Prospect High School in Portland from 9.5 per cent to 73.7 per cent.

Morris Dixon noted that while Jamaican students continue to do well across other subjects, such as business and the arts, she was concerned about the pass rate of students who sat the chemistry, physics and social studies exams. Fifty-eight per cent of students achieved passing grades in chemistry, 63 per cent in physics, and 61 per cent in social studies.

While noting that there was a change in the testing and syllabus for social studies this year, the minister also disclosed that the Government will be improving school science labs.

“I went around to schools, I went into labs and they have nothing in there, nothing in there, and so we have audit that was done of every single science lab in Jamaica, and we have a procurement going, so all of these schools … we’re spending a lot of money, over $100 million to get equipment into our science labs because our students are doing science in a very theoretical context and we have to give them the equipment,” she said.

She further noted that 30,514 students from public schools were registered for CSEC exams, of which 28,654 sat the examinations.

Meanwhile, for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination, she shared that 42,170 students registered, with 40,589 sitting the exams, achieving an average pass rate of 91.2 per cent across both Unit One and Unit Two.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com