JAMAICAN male students performed creditably in a number of science subjects and information technology, surpassing their Caribbean counterparts, according to the latest data from the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).

In fact, the January 2003 results show that for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, the greatest disparity between pass rates for Jamaican males and their Caribbean counterparts was in physics.

Of the 37 Jamaican male students who sat the physics exam, 70.3 per cent obtained between Grades 1 and 3. This pass rate is on average, 10.6 percentage points ahead of the region’s average pass rate for males, which was 59.7 per cent.

A total of 270 students, both male and female, sat the exam across the region and of that figure, Jamaica accounted for 53.

The pass rate refers to the number of students who obtained between Grades 1 and 3 out of the total who sat the exam. It should be noted that pass rates are not to be confused with pass marks.

Reacting to the latest data, Maxine Henry-Wilson, the minister of education, youth and culture, told JIS News that she was happy that there were indications that the performance of male students was improving.

“We know we have several challenges,” the minister said, adding that efforts were being made to make the classroom more attractive to them. She also indicated that gender studies have been undertaken, and that a module based on these studies, is to be implemented in the school system.

Biology was another science subject in which the local male candidates did well, obtaining a pass rate of 80 per cent, just marginally ahead of the region’s pass rate for males, of 79.4 per cent. However, for the Jamaican female candidates, they obtained a pass rate of 66 per cent. The regional cohort was comprised of 456 candidates, with 67 of those coming from Jamaica.

In chemistry, Jamaican males again showed comparable strength. While not outdoing their male counterparts throughout the region, they obtained a 58.3 per cent pass rate, which is on par with the regional average for chemistry. In comparison, the Jamaican female students’ pass rate in this area was 46.5 per cent.

Regionally, 314 sat the exam, with Jamaica accounting for 67.

While there was a general decline in performance regionally in information technology (IT), male candidates in Jamaica displayed a pass rate of 53.2 per cent, beating the pass rate of the females of 34.4 per cent and the region’s average of 51.7 per cent. Approximately 126 Jamaican students sat the IT exam out of a total of 266.

With respect to office procedures, local candidates performed well. Jamaican male students obtained a pass rate of 74.6 per cent, while the overall Caribbean male pass rate was 71.1 per cent. This time, Jamaican female candidates outperformed their male counterparts, as they enjoyed a pass rate of 81.2 per cent. A total of 276 students sat the exam locally, while 672 participants sat the exam regionally.

Dropping below the region’s average pass rate for males by 4.8 per cent, was the performance of Jamaican males in mathematics, which is still under intense focus from the Ministry of Education.

The pass rate for males was 51 per cent while that of the region’s males was 55.8 per cent.

The regional pass rate for this subject was 54.4 per cent out of a total of 9,770 candidates.

English continues to be a challenge, as the Jamaican overall average pass rate was 26.8 per cent, which is 14.7 per cent below the regional pass rate. The rate of passes for males locally, was 24.9 per cent, while the regional male pass rate was 37.9 per cent. The regional cohort was 8,337, of which 2,634 were from Jamaica. On average, 41.5 per cent of candidates across the region attained Grades 1 to 3 in English.

Commenting on the disappointing results for English and mathematics, Henry-Wilson said her ministry was not pleased with the performance and remained committed to finding innovative methods to enhance the performance of students.

Turning to foreign languages, four males sat and passed Spanish out of a total of 30 candidates. The overall rate of passes for Jamaica was 70 per cent, while the region saw 76.7 per cent of those sitting the exam obtaining between Grades 1 and 3.

CXC has been offering examinations for over 20 years, but first offered the January examinations in 1989, targeting re-sit candidates and the out-of-school population.

Of those who took the examinations across the region in January 2003, 65 per cent were females and 35 per cent were males. Jamaica’s sittings were consistent with this trend. The participating territories of the CXC are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts/Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.