Nassau, Bahamas – 9th August, 2016 – The Honourable Jerome K. Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology along with senior Ministry officials announced the 2016 Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) and Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) results on Tuesday, August 10th, 2016.
In releasing this year’s results, greater emphasis is being placed on the improvements made over the last two years since the inception of The Bahamas High School Diploma (BHSD). Now more than ever, more students are sitting BJCs due to the fact that it is a prerequisite for the Diploma.
Minster Fitzgerald acknowledged the fact that contrary to popular belief; more students are performing better than those who are not. “The fact of the matter is that more students are performing above average than those performing below average. Cumulatively, more students are achieving A-D than those receiving E and below. For the BJCs, 64% of the grades are A-D and 36% are E and below. For the BGCSEs, 71% of the grades are A-D and 29% are E and below.” The Minister also noted that there is still much work to be done. “As I said the improvements are encouraging but we still have a long way to go.”
This year’s results have seen an increase in the number of BJC candidates and a slight decrease in the number of BGSCE candidates.
11,703 candidates from a total of 120 centres registered to BJC examinations for 11 subjects offered. The candidates came from 68 independent or private schools and 52 government schools. This represents a 10.69% increase over 2015. The total number of grades awarded in 2016 is 41,894 compared to 39,657 in 2015, an increase of 5.64%. Overall, the number of candidates achieving grades A-D compared to last year increased by 1,667.
While the numbers were slightly down for BGCSE this year, 6,450 candidates from 104 centres registered to the BGCSE examinations. 65 centres were independent or private while 39 were government schools. This number represents a decrease of 1.13% when compared to last year. The BGSCE offers a total of 27 subjects with the overall average number of subjects written per candidate being four (4).
The University of Cambridge International Examinations remains the accreditation body for BGCSEs. In a statement issued, Cambridge acknowledged that the examinations continue to maintain their standard to international examinations. “University of Cambridge has taken measure to ensure that the standards of achievement represented by grades A – G in the 2016 BGSCE examination in the [27] subjects listed are equivalent to those represented by the corresponding grades in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and the General Certificate of Education O Level (GCE O Level).
This year marks the 24th sitting of both examinations; the BJC examinations since its re-introduction in 1994 and the BGSCE examinations since its inception in 1993.
