OVER the last four years, the Jamaican Government has wasted about $200 million on exam subsidies for high school students who either fail papers in English Language, Mathematics, Information Technology and a choice Science subject, or do not show up for the tests.

According to statistics prepared by the education ministry’s planning and development unit, Government has, between 2004 and 2008, spent more than $400 million on the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subsidy in a bid to get more schoolchildren qualified in these subjects.

However, last week as the Government attempted to shore up the budget, Education Minister Andrew Holness announced that this programme would be revamped as millions of dollars were being wasted annually.

The data show, for example, that between 2004 and 2008, a total of 344,865 students entered to sit English Language, Mathematics, Information Technology and a choice of either Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Integrated Science or Human and Social Biology. However, only 327,002 actually sat the exams and of that number, only 171,428 passed.

CSEC passes range from grades one to three, one being the highest.

Meanwhile, the data for 2008 showed 80,040 students registered to sit subjects covered by the subsidy. For them, Government paid $102,851,400 in non-refundable exam fees. However, a little more than 3,500 students did not sit the exams, and almost 50 per cent of those who sat failed.

Similar patterns exist for 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004. No data were available for 2009 or for the first two years of the subsidy, which started in 2002.

“Over the years, there has been a noticeable difference between the number of students entered for these subjects and those who actually sat them. In fact, except for 2005, the total difference exceeded 3,000, with a maximum of 3,572 in 2008. Mathematics and Information Technology have registered the largest differences for the five years,” the ministry said in a document on the rationalisation of the subsidy.

“The difference between those who entered for these subjects and those who attained the required grades highlights the cost inefficiency to an even greater extent,” the document continued. “The difference ranges from 28,613 in 2005 to 38,812 in 2007. The subjects are paid for at entry and there is no refund if the subjects are not sat. It therefore means that each year the Government would have lost fees that were paid for approximately 3,000 entries.”

The losses from those who register for the exams but don’t sit them, for whatever reason, range from $3.1 million in 2005 to approximately $4.6 million in 2008 while that loss, based on those who fail to attain grades 1- 3, ranges from $28.4 million in 2005 to $39.2 million in 2008.

At the presentation of the supplementary estimates of the budget in Parliament last week, Holness initially said this year would be the last that the subsidy is provided.

He clarified later, at a press conference, that the Government would still provide monies to assist students sit external exams, but said it would be an incentive programme based on performance.

“In a time of crisis, when everybody is being asked to conserve and become efficient, we cannot continue an open-ended subsidy,” he said.

Exactly how this new programme will work has not yet been worked out.

“No decision has been made on the shape of the incentive programme or whether it will cover the same four subjects,” ministry spokesman Colin Blair told the Sunday Observer.

However, according to the rationalisation document which was drafted in April, the ministry seems to be considering three options: continuing to pay but have students who fail, except PATH beneficiaries and wards of the state, refund Government the fees paid on their behalf; have students (except PATH beneficiaries and wards of the state) pay upfront then have Government refund those who passed; and maintaining a subsidy only for the core subjects of Math and English.

Having Government refund successful students “would be most feasible and would result in the Government realising the highest gains”, it said.