While education officials have refused to give the overall national average for national examinations over the last two years, Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald said that “nothing much has changed.”

The last time a national letter grade was released that average grade stood at a “D.”

“I don’t think it’s changed much,” Minister Fitzgerald said yesterday following the release of the 2014 national examination results.

“Just from an oversight we have had a lot of improvement. When you look at the Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) exams you may have had 20 per cent improvement, that’s pretty significant. I’m sure that means that there has been an increase in the grade point average there but overall I don’t expect we’ll see the sort of change that we are looking at overnight. I think it will take us a couple years to get there and for us to have the systems and interventions rooted within our system and for us to hold everyone accountable, that’s students, parents, teachers, administrators, administrators within the ministry and the ministry.”

According to the numbers, there was a decline in grade point average in 10 subjects for the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations.

Three subjects declined in grade point average and letter grades – art and design scheme A, history and keyboarding skills.

The numbers also indicate that 922 candidates achieved a “C” grade in five or more subjects this year compared to the 966 in 2013.

“The BGCSE examination is designed to cater to at least 80 per cent of students in grade 12,” Minister Fitzgerald said.

“It is anticipated that at least 80 per cent of the candidates sitting the examinations would achieve grades between “A” to “G.” Again this year, it was noted that more that 80 per cent of the grades awarded continue to range between “A” to “E.” The cumulative percentage of grades awarded at “A” to “C” is lower than in 2013. It has decreased from 48.57 per cent to 46.49 per cent.”

He said the highest percentage of grades awarded continues to be a “C.”

“While we note the reduction in the number and percentage of grades awarded at “U”, of concern is the increase in the number and percentage of grades awarded at “G” which remains constant at five per cent,” the education minister said.

According to the education minister, 6,789 students took BGCSE exams this year.

The number of students declined from last year which stood at 7,117.

“The total number of subjects offered was 27 and the average number of subjects each candidate took was four,” Minister Fitzgerald explained.

“Of the 27 subjects tested, when compared to 2013, improved performance was noted in 16 of them. Eight subjects improved both in grade point average and letter grade namely bookkeeping and accounts, clothing construction, electrical installation, English language, graphical communication, literature, music and physics.”

Overall, there were 10 subjects offered and of those 10, the grade point average for eight improved – mathematics, general science, art, craft study, family and consumer science, religious studies, social studies and technical drawing.

The education minister explained that the grade point average in English and health science remained the same.

“Mathematics is the only subject with an improved letter grade – from “E” to “D+,” he said.

“This is the best BJC mathematics result in the last 10 years. When compared to 2013 there is an improvement in the number of grades awarded at “A” to “C.” The percentage of candidates achieving grades “A” to “C” has increased from 49.58 per cent to 53.16 per cent in 2014.”

He also noted that the percentage of grades awarded “E” to “U” has declined in 2014 when compared to 2013.

The minister said 8,987 students participated in the BJC examinations, an increase from last year of 8,728.

“The results of our national examinations reflect that teachers and administrators throughout our archipelago have been focused on demonstrating their students’ successes across the ability range,” Minister Fitzgerald said.

“The national examinations are designed to show what students know, understand and can do after having completed a prescribed course of study. Therefore the grades awarded to students are indicators of their achievements and their potential and not the sum total of their worth.”