Education Ministry reports improvements in GSAT

The Education Ministry is reporting improvements in all subject areas of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), this year.

Education Minister Reverend Ronald Thwaites says students receiving high marks will be spread more widely in the range of schools than ever before.

He believes this is good news for schools that normally receive students with low averages, as they will now spend less time on remediation and more time on the high school curriculum.

More students with high averages have been placed in non-traditional high schools.

The Education Minister who spoke at this morning's (June 20) Jamaica House news briefing said also that more students were placed manually than before, as those who scored higher grades were given their first preference  for school placement.

Mr. Twhaites explained that once those levels of places are filled, then students are mechanically placed to schools based on where they reside or their geographical location.

In the meantime, girls reportedly out did boys again in this year's Grade Six Achievement Test.

Minister Thwaites says the average score for boys in mathematics is 59 %, and 64 % for girls.

Meanwhile, in science, the average score for boys is 62 %, while girls scored 3 % point more, to receive 65 %.

He gives the averages for the other subject areas of Communication Tasks, Social Studies and Language Arts.

The Education Minister says a father figure in a boy's life and the strength of male teachers in the classroom are key factors in boys achieving more academically.

He points out that there is also a correlation between education and popular culture.