THE Caribbean Research Institute (CaPRI) says that there is little evidence that teachers or administrators are using the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results to target and improve weaknesses among students.

In the latest edition of its publication, ‘Think Tank’, CaPRI addressed the issue of “Jamaica: Failing The Education Test”, stating that the country ‘s education system is leaving too many children behind.

CaPRI, a public policy think-tank based at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, circulated copies of the publication to parliamentarians at Gordon House, recently, pointing out that of about 43,000 students placed in secondary schools five years ago through Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), just 27,000 were allowed to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English language exam, and only 23,000 sat the mathematics exam, yet still 35 per cent and 55 per cent failed the respective exams.

The article quoted from a report jointly published by CaPRI and Partnership for Educational Revitalisation in the Americas (PREAL) last year, which stated that:

“There is little evidence that teachers or administrators are using the CSEC results to improve classroom instruction, strengthen school performance, or design programmes targeting areas of weakness.”

“Schools and teachers will not enter students in exams if it is likely that their performance will adversely impact the overall pass rate of the school. Less than 65 per cent of the students that should have taken CSEC English language last year registered to take the test. Only 55 per cent registered for math,” CaPRI said.

“In other words, of about 43,000 students placed in secondary schools five years ago through the GSAT, the fourth test taken at primary level, just 27,000 sat English language in the CSEC exam in 2013, of which 35 per cent failed; and about 23,000 sat the mathematics exam of which 55 per cent failed.

“Whether higher levels of standardised testing encourage educators, parents and students to improve performance, or simply increase stress on an unfair and ineffective education system is debatable. But currently, educational shortcomings are not being addressed. Instead of being improved, children are simply being removed from the examination rooms and the data,” the document stated.

It also noted that the PREAL report entitled Prisms of Possibility: A Report Card on Education in Jamaica, had stated that, “leaving out potential low performers skews scores upward”, suggesting that performance may be lower than existing scores indicate.

“And the deck is stacked against the poorest”, CaPRI pointed out, declaring that while 90 per cent of Jamaicans more than 14 years old, who are in the lowest income quintile, have not passed a single examination at the secondary level or higher, while 44 per cent of the wealthiest have passed.

It said that at the primary level, children in privately run preparatory schools — about 10 per cent of the student cohort — outperform their counterparts in the public schools in all five GSAT subjects. Prep school students average 80 per cent on these exams. Public school students average 50-55 per cent.

At the secondary level, CaPRI said, schools are given similar budgets, although schools serving poorer communities have greater financial needs and less access to the supplementary funding and resources provided by strong alumni associations and parent bodies at traditional high schools.

CaPRI also pointed to the disparity in educational outcomes, including limited resources and weak educational management systems in schools with children who have greater needs, as being among problems facing the students.

CaPRI is chaired by Dr Marshall Hall. Dr Christopher Tufton and Dr Damien King are co-executive directors. Other board members include Gleaner Company chairman, Oliver Clarke.