State schools’ IGCSE and Delf results keep improving |28 January 2012

Speaking about the results  during a press conference yesterday at the Education Department headquarters Mont Fleuri, Egbert Benstrong, the principal education officer at the Centre for Curriculum, Assessment and Teacher Support, said the results for 2011 compare favourably to those of the preceding years.

“The overall pass rate for last year was 92%, the same as in 2010. In most subjects, the pass rate was retained or showed a slight increase.” He said the only exception was in mathematics.

“Achievements in terms of higher grades (i.e. grade C or higher) were mixed.”
He added that the biggest improvement was in First Language English which saw a 28% increase from 60% in 2010 to 88% in 2011.

There was also a slight increase in Geography, History, Coordinated Science and English as a Second Language, he said.

“But there has been a slight decrease in performance in Art and Design, Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology.”

Mr Benstrong said the number of students scoring a grade C or better has remained very low in Combined Science and this is another area which needs more attention.

 He said that since 2005 when the IGCSE was introduced in State schools, the general trend for both pass rate and percentage of students scoring a grade C or better has been one with very small fluctuations.

“This indicates that standards have been maintained over time and perhaps the challenge now is to seek ways to increase the number of grade C or higher in all subjects offered.”

For Delf, he said the pass rate was 88% for A1, 94% for A2, 93% for B1 and 84% for B2.

“These figures were again comparable to 2010 and these were 91% for A1, 97% for A2, 88% for B1 and 75% for B2.”
Mr Benstrong added that a record number of students were registered for both IGCSE and Delf.

According to a press release from the education department, out of a S5 population of 1234 students, 1102 were registered for IGCSE and 1074 for Delf, representing almost 90% of the S5 student cohort.

The number of subject entries also rose to 3407 compared to 3104 in 2010, with over 500 students taking five or more subjects.

Mr Benstrong said this record is a first for Seychelles and that the Department of Education wishes to commend all schools in providing the opportunity for more students to access international qualifications and this is consistent with the principles underpinning the current reforms in secondary education.