Stephen Vasciannie
In Jamaica, most of us take our first public, external examination at 10 or 11, and our second at 16 or 17. We argue constantly about whether the first public examination, the GSAT, is too easy, too stressful, or too unfair, although we do not seem to have any set of shared criteria to assess these considerations. Some statistics are usually available about student performance in the GSAT from year to year, but those who argue about this issue have not yet incorporated the statistical evidence from year to year in the annual debate.
We also have statistical evidence about the performance of students in the CSEC, the second public examination; and, to be sure, some of the relevant statistics have come to be used in the analysis of student performance. This is a positive development, for it reinforces the society's legitimate interest in the performance of its students from year to year.
American System
In the American system, statistical evidence is also available, and, as in the case of Jamaica, the evidence is sometimes incorporated into discussions about education. On August 30, for example, the New York Times summarised findings about the performance of students in the new version of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (the SAT), taken by the graduating class for 2006.
The Times report is entitled "Scores on Reading and Math Portions of the SAT Show Significant Decline," and it indicates that the performance of students in reading and mathematics this year showed the largest decline in 31 years. The average performance of students in critical reading fell by five points from 508 out of 800, to 503, while for mathematics, average student performance fell from 520 to 518, again out of 800.
This situation should be of interest to Jamaican readers. To begin with, several students in Jamaica now yearn for places at American universities, and the SAT represents the main avenue of entry. So, then, these students may say to themselves - in very rough terms: 'If I can score about 65 per cent in both English and maths, I have a chance of getting into an "average" American university, provided I have the money.'
Implications
This, of course, has implications for the UWI and other Caribbean universities, whether northern, technological, collegiate or otherwise. Generally speaking, most questions in the SAT are at the level of grade 11 in our system, with some requiring skills that are normally associated with sixth- form work. So, the good lower sixth-form student, with extra classes, is apt to meet the 65 per cent threshold I have mentioned.
Add to this the fact that for the SAT, students usually raise their marks by about 14 points on second sitting, and by a further 10 on third sitting, and note that the SAT is available for more than one sitting per year, and the opportunities become even more available for Jamaican students.
But, surely, universities in the region cannot simply watch as the strongest products of the secondary system all head to North America. As Lenin was wont to ask: What is to be done? There should be a concerted effort to keep some of our best and brightest. In some ways, this will happen, for top students still find UWI medicine and law competitive, and several other disciplines are still attractive to persons who intend to live in Jamaica.
Even so, however, university authorities in the region must continue to promote themselves with enthusiasm and vigour. These universities must also ensure that when they/we say "by our deeds you shall know us," this is positive advertisement to parents and their offspring.
Stephen Vasciannie is professor of international law at the University of the West Indies and works part time as a deputy solicitor general in the Attorney-General's Chambers.
