MORE girls than boys achieved proficiency or high proficiency in all four subject areas — science, social studies and language arts and mathematics — in this year’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams, according to official results released on Friday.

The results, which were announced by Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams at a press conference, were determined from the PEP Ability Test done in March and the PEP Curriculum-Based Test done in April.

Of the 36,078 children registered to sit the exam, 35,292 were present.

For proficiency or high proficiency, the data showed that there were 61.4 per cent for girls, compared to 46.6 per cent of boys in science; and 44.7 per cent for boys and 62.5 per cent for girls in social studies.

The data also showed that there was an 86 per cent proficiency or high proficiency for girls in language arts, compared to 68.5 per cent for boys, while the score for mathematics was 45 per cent for males and 56 per cent for females.

Minister Williams said caution should be taken in making comparison of the PEP exams, as components varied due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“It is difficult to compare because the exam last year had different components to it, relative to this year, so we are really cautious about drawing any comparison between the years,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Said Williams: “Of the 35,272 students who were placed using the results of the PEP examination, 99 per cent were placed in high schools and less than one per cent was placed in a special needs school. No student was placed in a primary/junior high school, as the junior high school departments of these schools have been phased out,” she said, noting that 87 per cent of students were placed in one of their preferred schools of choice.

“It must be noted that 100 per cent of our schools are now a school of choice, in that students are now selecting a variety of schools as their preferred school for placement even though there is still a high demand for the traditional high schools,” said Williams.

Further, she said PEP is not limited to only a placement at a secondary school, but the method of assessment used to report the students’ performance grants the benefits of allowing more accurate claims to be made about students and regular monitoring of the students’ achievement and progress.

“The methods used to report students’ performance in the Primary Exit Profile provide a more holistic overview of what each child knows and can do as they transition from the primary level of education to the secondary level,” she said.

The results for the individual performance of students were made available online to schools on Friday.

Principal at Grove Primary School and Infant school in St Andrew Francine Taylor Arnett told the Observer she was pleased with the passes of her students this year, when compared to last year.

“Last year we had children going to Papine, we had students going to Mavis Bank High School, Holy Trinity High School and today, we are happy we have children going to Mona High School, Kingston Technical High School and Oberlin High School,” she said.

“The face-to-face interaction with the teachers motivated them and I’m not knocking technology but teachers are very influential when it comes on to students. The teachers play an integral part in where the students go. I want to really commend the teachers, who have really impacted the lives of the students,” she added.

At the same time, principal of Allman Town Primary School Latoya Nesbeth said equally pleased with her students’ performance.

“Based on the pathways, the children did very well. We have pathway one and two. It was a lot of proximity placing. Nobody is in pathway three. I have a couple St George’s College, Holy Childhood High School, Kingston College, Excelsior High, Camperdown High, Westwood High School, and a lot of technical schools,” she said.

“I have no doubt face-to-face classes would impact their performances. I know my teachers really worked with them because having them face-to-face really pumping them, for the exams,” said Nesbeth.

Last year, 84 per cent of students were assigned to one of their preferred schools, 13 per cent to secondary level schools close to the schools they presently attend, and two per cent were manually assigned to secondary level schools close to the address they provided during registration.

— Additional reporting by Caylyne Butler