S

ome 11,000 pupils across the region who wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Exam (formerly O’ levels) last May/June got no passes.

So said Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Registrar Glenroy Cumberbatch at a function for the official release of results in Grenada on Saturday.

The shocking figures came on the weekend when otherwise pupils in TT on (Sunday) received their results for the CAPE Exam (formerly A’ levels) from the CXC’s online portal.

Pupils can access their CSEC results online on Thursday.

Cumberbatch lamented that the region might not be adequately preparing pupils to be employed or self-employed. He said just 20 per cent of the Caribbean population get to write the CSEC Exam, and of this cohort some 13 per cent pass no subjects.

Cumberbatch said one way to remedy this trend was to aim for a “wallet of certification” that also includes the CVQ and CCSLC, known to be vocational qualifications, to certify your competence in a particular area.

However Cumberbatch then said this year’s CSEC results were actually better than last year’s.

“This year we had over 60,000 candidates doing five or more CSEC subjects and 59 per cent of them gaining acceptable grades.” He said Grenada had exceeded the regional average by having 63 per cent of pupils gain acceptable grades.