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PEP results show improvement in key subject areas

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Nakinskie Robinson reports
 
This year's Primary Exit Profile (PEP) results are showing encouraging gains with more than 60% of pupils falling into the proficient or highly proficient category for Mathematics and Language Arts.
 
The results come even as concerns persist about students with low literacy levels matriculating to secondary schools.
 
The improvement also comes despite this year's crop having their introductory years into primary learning affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted schools to switch to online learning as well as nutritional deficiencies and limited social interactions. 
 
Providing a breakdown of the findings across Mathematics, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon says, despite serious challenges identified at the start of the assessment at the grade 4 level, by grade 6, there were significant improvements. But she admits that more work is needed.
 
"In Mathematics, 63% of our students were seen as proficient or highly proficient. In Science, 70% of our students were proficient or highly proficient. In Social Studies, 72% of our students were proficient or highly proficient. And in Language Arts, 69% of our students were proficient.
We are on our way. These were not the results last year or the year before. Our target in the ministry is to get to 85% proficiency level by 2030 with all of these areas," she outlined. 
 
She attributed the challenges at the grade 4 level to the lack of physical teaching and learning in the early years. 
 
A further breakdown shows that for the 'highly proficient' category, only 7% ranked in this area for Mathematics, 2% in Language Arts, 9% in Science and 14% in Social Studies. 
 
The minister also welcomed a noted diversity in the placement of top performers.
 
"Almost 90% of them have been able to be placed in a school of their choice that was on the paper that their parents handed in. And that may mean too that our parents and our schools are helping the parents to choose better. This year, the top 10 students are going to six different schools," Dr. Morris Dixon explained, noting that this is a change from previous years. 
 
"The number one student in Jamaica, in PEP, will be going to Ardenne High School. The number two student is going to the DeCarteret College. Number three, Immaculate Conception High. And this one, we should all celebrate, too: the number four ranked student is going to Herbert Morrison Technical High School. And the number five would have been to Campion, the number six, St. Andrew High School and the rest of the top 10 had those schools in there," she pointed out. 
 
The minister added that more primary schools have entered into the top 50 ranked schools.
 
Dr. Morris Dixon was speaking at the Primary Exit Profile press conference on Friday morning.
 
Some 33,462 students were registered to participate in the assessment across 964 institutions. Absenteeism also fell by 25%. 
 
The results went live for schools at 11 a.m. Friday, and parents and guardians will have access to the results through the Ministry of Education portal at 1 p.m. 
 
Schools will also have access to a school results publication, which will provide an analysis of student performances and recommendations for improvements.
 


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