The Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results are out and the usual emotions, comments and statistical analyses will follow. Two incidents have made me stop to question the extent to which this examination defines our thoughts about schooling, success and the future of our students.

The minister of education made a presentation to teachers at the Jamaica Teachers' Association conference and also to some principals. He disclosed that from an age cohort of over 51,000, just over 26,000 students either did not sit the examination (some were not in school) or passed zero subjects. This has been the trend over several years.

Painful results

On Tuesday of this week, I went to pick up CXC results from the Overseas Examinations Office. As I entered my car, I viewed the sheet with the summary results, which started with biology. I noted that the percentage passes were in the 30s and lower. I thought of the teachers by name and the effort they had put in as they prepared their students. I started to hyperventilate, my head had all kinds of different pains in several locations, and I put away the sheet. I wondered how I would present these results in a report. I wondered if I should call the school board chairman right away. I then returned to the sheet. On it I saw results for a subject we did not do at my school. It took me a while to recover after learning that it was not my school's results.

My reaction to the minister's presentation (which is typical) was immediately to think that the 26,000 un-CXC-certified students is the reason for our high level of crime, poor morals, high unemployment rate, high level of unemployables and a number of other woes.

My near fatal reaction (I could have had a heart attack, considering my age) to the results suggests that this examination is used to determine whether a school is providing quality education or not.

Should CSEC be main focus

Should the CSEC examination determine whether the education that a child receives at school allows him to contribute to nation building? Will a student who has a certificate with nine ones not be tempted to commit murder, robbery or get involved in corruption? Does the 26,000 include student athletes who have passed no subjects but are now earning a proper living and making us proud? What about those who study after they leave school and end up with PhDs? Did the school give them a good education? Should schools concentrate on preparing for CSEC and forget everything else? These are some of the questions I am asking.

We all panic when we see these numbers. Our first thoughts are how do we make our students do better at this examination. This, of course, we must do. However, we need to find a way to measure socialisation skills, values and attitudes, non-academic skills learnt inside the classroom, on the playing field, on the field trip, in the various competitions and all the other factors which contribute to the product we call the 'school leaver'.

CXC-CSEC examination results do not tell the whole story of high-school education. It is a good measure, but should be only one of many.

I am, etc.,

Cynthia P. Cooke

Principal,

Camperdown High School