Christianburg Wismar Secondary School (CWSS) in Region 10 has now joined Mackenzie High as the two institutions in that region offering Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) this year.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) in another step towards closing the gap in education delivery across Guyana has now added CWSS to aid with the CAPE programme in Region 10. This intervention comes at a time when Guyana is expected to experience a ‘purple patch’ with the emerging Oil and Gas sector.
The MoE recognized that the educational thrust of Guyana is along the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) path. Therefore it is important that the schools' curricula respond to the needs of the society.
The subjects that will be taught for September 2018 CAPE programme at CWSS is Geometrical & Mechanical Engineering Drawing, Electrical & Electronic Technology, Computer Science and Pure Mathematics. This ultimately would lead to an Associate Degree in Technical Studies from the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC). Additionally, such pursuits will allow for the exemption from courses at the University of Guyana should the students go on to that territory institution.
Region 10 has a secondary school population of four thousand one hundred and thirty-eight (4138). While all seven secondary schools are offering the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC); only the one senior secondary school, the Mackenzie High school, was offering CAPE.
The CWSS has one of the strongest technical vocational education programmes in Region 10. This is evident in the CSEC results in the technical subjects. The school is equipped with four (4) large workshops and two Information Technology laboratories to offer a multi-lateral programme.
The school is a grade [B] institution, with a matriculation rate that ranks high among the other listed [A] grade Schools in Guyana. Matriculation is defined by CXC as a pass of at least five (5) CSEC subjects, at one sitting, at Grades I to III including English A and Mathematics.
Over the past five (5) years the school recorded a consistent improvement in student matriculation. In 2013, only twenty-nine percent (29%) of the CSEC candidates matriculated. By 2017, forty-eight percent (48%) matriculated. Over the past three (3) years a total of two hundred thirty-three (233) students matriculated from this school.
Thirty-one percent (31%) or seventy-two (72) of the students, who matriculated from the school over the past three (3) years, were from the Industrial Technology Department. In 2015 and 2016, eighty-three percent (83%) of the candidates passed and in 2017, all the candidates (100%) passed.
