A study of student attainment in State schools |23 July 2022
• Analysis of patterns and trends: 2010 - 2020
This empirical study, which tracks and analyses patterns and trends in student attainment, at State primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Seychelles, from 2010 to 2020, was completed in 2021 by Dr John Nolan, education consultant, who was a special advisor on education to the Seychelles government from 2007 to 2017.
The study was conducted within the framework of the formulation and implementation of education policy in the Republic of Seychelles from 2010 to 2020, and the Student Attainment Targets set by the Ministry of Education in both its ‘Medium-Term Strategy 2013-2017 and Beyond’, and its more recent strategy document ‘Education Sector Medium-Term Strategic Plan (MTS) 2018-2022 and Beyond’.
It presents a comprehensive scrutiny and interpretation of student attainment in national and international examinations, at the conclusion of the key stages of learning: Primary 2 (P2), Primary 4 (P4) and Primary 6 (P6), IGCSE, the S5 National Examination, the S5 GESDP, and the GCE (A-Level).
The study focuses particular attention on student attainment in the core curriculum subjects of Literacy and Numeracy, as well as in the STEM subjects Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and ICT.
Key findings arising from the analysis, which are summarised in Section 7 of the study, include the following:
(i) A significant decline in the percentage of students sitting for the various subjects at highest level of examination, at the end of Secondary 5 (S5), i.e. the IGCSE, at State Secondary Schools: 2014 – 2020.
(ii) A significant decline in the Number of students completing Upper Secondary School at the State School of Advanced Level Studies (S.A.L.S): 2008 - 2020
These significant downward trends in the number of students studying and sitting for the IGCSE and the GCE (A-Level) Examination present a substantial challenge.
Moreover, they raise a reasonable question as to what should constitute an official certification of a student’s secondary school record at the end of Secondary 5 (S5), and whether certification should be based on a requirement that a student should have achieved a certain minimum grade in a specified number of IGCSE or S5 National Examination subjects.
Student attainment
The Ministry of Education’s ‘Medium-Term Strategy 2013-17 and Beyond’ included a ‘priority programme target’ for Primary School that, ‘by 2017, 50% of P6 students will score between Grade A and Grade C at the P6 examination’; and, for Secondary School that, ‘by 2017, there will be a 15% increase in students scoring grades of A, B, C in the S3 coordinated and S5 IGCSE exams’.
The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the percentage of students achieving Grade C or higher, in the various national and international examinations, from 2014 to 2020, as illustrated, for example, in the examinations at the end of P6, S5 (IGCSE) and GCE (A-Level) in figures 1, 2 and 3 below:
While there was a relatively significant improvement in 2020, in the level of student attainment in the IGCSE and A-Level examinations (Figure 3 below), this improvement should be viewed in the context of the sizeable decrease in the number of students sitting for those examinations, from 2014 to 2020.
The decline in the level of student attainment in examinations held at the end of
Primary 6 (P6), Secondary 5 (S5 i.e. IGCSE), and at the end of Upper Secondary level (i.e. A-Level) has challenging implications for the further development of tertiary education (university and non-university) in Seychelles, as well as providing the requisite expertise needed for the future development of the country in the years ahead.
The study concurs with the central theme of the National Development Strategy (NDS) 2019-23 to the effect that ‘the quality of the education system is a critical determinant in sustaining the future of the country’.
Accordingly, if the targets of the NDS, or of other similar Government strategies, are to be achieved, and ‘the abilities and opportunities of Seychelles are not to be constrained’, the Ministry of Education will require sizeable resources to reverse the downward trend, both in the number of students presenting for the national and international examinations, and the percentage of students achieving Grade C or higher in these examinations.
Note:
A pdf copy of the study has been lodged in the Seychelles National Library, together with a pdf copy of a substantive document completed by the author in 2019, entitled ‘The progress of reform in the Seychelles education system, 2007 - 2017: A personal perspective’.
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