Nearly 90 per cent placed at first-choice schools in PEP

Approximately nine out of every 10 students who sat the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations islandwide for this academic year were placed in a school of first preference.

In total, the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY) reported that 86.7 per cent of the 34,927 students registered to sit the 2023-2024 grade six examinations got first-choice schools. Eighty-eight per cent of the entrants were from public schools and the remaining 12 per cent from private institutions.

The success rate for individual placement is not a reflection of mastery displayed by the students overall.

From the overall tally, only 14 per cent of students received high proficient scores – the highest awarded scores in each subject – in the subjects social studies and science. For the high proficient scores in the subjects language arts and mathematics, six, and five per cent, respectively, of the overall students earned the highest scores.

The numbers were significantly higher in the second-highest category, proficient, with over 55 per cent and more achieving scores at that level.

Also, 11.2 per cent were placed in schools based on proximity, one per cent were manually, while one per cent of students registered were absent or excluded from this year’s sitting. This accounted for 357 students.

Special accommodation

These announcements were made by Fayval Williams, minister of education and youth, during a press conference at the offices of the Ministry of Education and Youth at Heroes Circle in Kingston yesterday.

“For this year’s exams, there were some special considerations. Over 500 students were granted special accommodations for sitting of PEP this year. We would have identified 313 of them from last year because they sat PEP 5 then. We saw 190 new students requesting special accommodation,” Williams said.

“It marks the first year since its inception in 2019 that a cohort of students transitioning from grade six at primary level to the secondary level will have a profile which constitutes all the components, so the students’ profile will consist of scores obtained from the grade four performance task which was administered in June 2022, the grade five performance task which was administered in June 2023; and then the 2024 grade six components which were the ability test administered in February, performance task [test] administered in March and the curriculum-based test which was administered in April 2024,” she said.

Cumulative record

PEP is designed to measure students’ attainment of the objectives outlined in the National Standards Curriculum. Williams said through this assessment framework, they can provide a cumulative record of students’ performance over three years.

“By providing detailed information about students’ knowledge, skills and competencies, teachers and school administrators are able to put intervention strategies in place to improve on students’ areas of weaknesses and to build on their strengths, so that by the end of grade six students are in a state of readiness for receiving instructions in our high schools,” she said.

Her message to students was, “The results are here, and I hope your dreams are realised today.”

For these special requests, schools had to submit a psycho educational assessment report to the examinations, assessment and administration services branch of the Ministry of Education and Youth and the special education unit for evaluation. They are granted based on assessment.

She said from PEP 4, 5 and 6 the students, based on performance in mathematics, science, social studies and language arts, were ranked based on Beginning, Developing, Proficient and Highly Proficient.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com