Charlestown Secondary School:

One hundred and eight (108) students wrote the CSEC Examinations this year.  There were 602 subject entries written at General Proficiency Level and 113 at Technical Proficiency Level, for a total 715 Subject Entries.  There were a 564 Subject Entry passes yielding a pass rate of 79 percent. I take this opportunity to congratulate the students, the principal, teachers, and other staff of the school. 

Outstanding individual passes at CSS:

Nevis International Secondary School (NISS):

Ten students wrote the CSEC examinations this year. There were 36 subject entries written at General Proficiency Level and one at Technical Proficiency Level. There were 30 subject entry passes, a pass rate of 81 percent, an increase of 6 percent over last year.  I take this opportunity to congratulate the students, the principal, teachers and other staff of the school.

Outstanding individual passes at the Nevis International Secondary School 2018:

 We continue to perform exceptionally in some subject areas. 

The subjects that returned 100 percent passes at the Gingerland Secondary School were:  Agricultural Science (Single Award), Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Textiles, Clothing and Fashion, English B, Family and Resource Management, Food Nutrition and Health, French, Geography, Human and Social Biology, Information Technology, Integrated Science, Music, Principles of Business, Spanish, Technical Drawing, Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM), Building Technology, Building and Industrial Technology Electrical. 

Subjects that returned 100 percent passes at the Charlestown Secondary School were:  Agricultural Science (Double Award), Biology, Chemistry, French, Integrated Science, Music, Physical Education and Sport, Food Nutrition and Health. 

Subjects that returned 100 percent passes at the Nevis International Secondary School were:  English A, Geography, Music, Principles of Business, Social Studies, Technical Drawing, and Electronic Document Preparation and Management. 

Mathematics has over the years been an area of concern at the Secondary Schools. Pass rates dropped again this year at Charlestown Secondary from 47 percent in 2017 to 45 percent. However, Gingerland Secondary School’s percentage increased from 77 percent in 2017 to 96 percent this year.  We say congratulation to those who were successful, and at the same time we encourage our teachers and students to continue to give maximum effort on this important subject area. 

There were 204 private candidates registered to write CSEC examinations this year and the pass rate was 61 percent.  Congratulations to the successful candidates and to their tutors. To those who were not successful, I offer words of encouragement. Continue to strive for self-improvement.  

Nevis Sixth Form College CAPE: 

The CAPE Unit entries for the Nevis Sixth Form College this year were 587.  Five hundred and sixty-five (565) Units were written with 500 Unit passes, yielding an 89 percent pass rate. This is an improvement of 5 percent over 2017’s 84 percent. Our students continue to perform exceptionally well. I take this opportunity to congratulate the students, the Supervisor, teachers, and other staff of the Nevis Sixth form. 

The most individual units attempted over a two-year period by a single student was 19.  Outstanding candidates attempting 1st year and 2nd year units are as follows: 

CAPE

1st Year Students 2018

2nd Year Students 2018

The following subjects  returned 100 percent passes at the Nevis Sixth Form College: Agricultural Science Unit 2,  Applied Mathematics Units 1 & 2, Art & Design Units 1 & 2, Biology Units 1 & 2, Building and Mechanical Engineering Drawing Unit 1, Caribbean Studies Unit 1, Digital Media Unit 1, Entrepreneurship Units 1 & 2, Chemistry Units 1 & 2,  Environmental Science Unit 2, French Units 1 & 2, Geography Unit 1, Green Engineering Units 1 & 2, History Unit 2, Information Technology Unit 2, Law Unit 2, Physical Education Unit 1 & 2,  Literatures in English Units 1 & 2, Physics Units 1 & 2, Pure Mathematics Unit 2, Spanish Units 1 & 2, Tourism Unit 2. 

CAPE Integrated Mathematics, which is now a compulsory Unit, had a pass rate this year of 68 percent. This is an improvement over the 51 percent from last year. 

An area that remains a concern is student absences. For CSEC there were 14 absences this year, down from, 38 in 2017. 

At the Nevis Sixth Form College, there were 15 absentees in 2018, down from 40 in 2017. It does appear to be trending down and my hope is that, this will decrease even further. I encourage all students to make the effort, see your exams as an investment in your future and give the priority to preparation time necessary to be successful. 

I take this opportunity, to thank the permanent secretary and the entire team of the Ministry of Education, the Principal Education Officer and her team, all other Education Officers. The principals, teachers and staff at the schools for your hard work in the past school year.  

I congratulate our students, you have done your island proud.  I also say thanks on behalf of our premier and the Cabinet of the Nevis Island Administration.