KINGSTON, Jamaica — More than 50 per cent of students who sat Primary Exit Profile (PEP) this year, have been categorised as ‘proficient’ or ‘highly proficient’ in all four subject areas.

According to a release, figures from the Ministry of Education and Youth show that in Language Arts, 62.7 per cent of all students demonstrated the required competence necessary in the subject area as specified under the National Standards Curriculum.

Another 14.4 per cent of students fell in the ‘highly proficient’ category, having demonstrated an advanced level of competence. At the same time, 22 per cent of students were placed in the ‘developing’ category and 0.9 per cent of students were placed in the ‘beginning’ category for the subject.

In Math, 45.9 per cent of students were declared ‘proficient’ and 4.9 per cent were deemed ‘highly proficient’. On the other hand, 43.5 per cent of students fell in the ‘developing’ category and 5.7 per cent in the ‘beginning’ category.

The ‘developing’ category means that students demonstrated partial evidence of the required competence, while the ‘beginning’ category means that the students demonstrated limited or no evidence of the required competence. Less than six per cent of all students are in the ‘beginning’ category.

Portfolio Minister, Fayval Williams, speaking at a press conference at the Ministry on Friday (July 8) ahead of the release of the PEP results, reported that in Science, 20 per cent of students were ‘highly proficient’, the highest showing of advanced competence among all subjects.

At the same time, 33.8 per cent of students were ‘proficient’, 45 per cent were ‘developing’ and 1.2 per cent were at the ‘beginning’ level in the subject.

In Social Studies, 37.2 per cent of students were ‘proficient’; 16.1 per cent were ‘highly proficient’; 41.9 per cent of students were ‘developing’; and 4.8 per cent were ‘beginning’.

“This is all very good information for us to continue to help our students,” the Minister said, noting that the data will allow the Ministry to make the necessary interventions to help teachers in the classroom “to know who is going to require more hand-holding and to be able to provide that for the students”.

A total of 35,292 students sat PEP this year, which did not include the grades four and five components like past years, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As such, the Minister said it is difficult to draw comparisons between this cohort’s performance and that of students in previous years.

As of Friday, individual results can be accessed by parents via the online parent portal.

A report card will be given for each student with an overall score and a breakdown of their performance in the different subjects.

“It is important that parents understand this report because it indicates what level of learning your child is, at the moment,” the Minister said.

Additionally, she is reporting that 100 per cent of Jamaican schools are now schools of choice and were selected by students.

“In prior years, there were high schools that were not chosen by any student, but this year, that’s not the case,” Williams said.