‘This is the dream we have begun to fulfil’ – Education Minister

– says successes this year are spread out across the country, Maths rate improves

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand announced that the results of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) were not limited to top secondary schools but were distributed across the country, fulfilling a dream of the Government of Guyana.

Minister Manickchand shared this view at a simple ceremony marking the release of the results at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

This year, non-traditional schools such as Zeeburg Secondary, Bygeval Secondary, JC Chandisingh Secondary, and Mackenzie High School achieved a pass rate of more than 85% at the examinations.

“That is the dream we have begun to fulfil by investing in every single region, every single school across the region equally and equitably. And, we’ve begun to see the results,” Minister Manickchand said.

A notable improvement is the increase in the Mathematics pass rate. Though a five per cent average increase in the CSEC pass rate was recorded, Minister Manickchand revealed that 67% of the schools offering the subject recorded increases, with one school moving from 16% to more than 80%.

The education minister stated that she does not doubt that the ministry’s intervention programme played a crucial role in achieving these successes.

“You don’t see this kind of growth in one year, five percentage points in one year across the country [and] where most of our schools did better. And I attribute doing better directly to the intervention we had,” she pointed out.

With more than 42 secondary schools slated for completion by mid-next year, the minister said that these schools are creating the opportunities necessary for children to excel.

“[This shows you] that wherever we build schools or offer opportunities, children, our children excel,” he said.

Speaking directly to the children, Minister Manickchand urged them to grab hold of the many opportunities available now in Guyana, through the GOAL scholarship or by considering that the University of Guyana is free.

“The world is now your oyster. You have a University of Guyana that you can go on to for free and do anything…you now have the world open to you with a government that has committed that you will become anything you want to be with our support and that we will provide the platform for that,” the minister highlighted.

Meanwhile, CAPE results saw a slight decline from 92.57% in 2024 to 91.9% this year. CSEC grades remained relatively stable at 66.76%.