Teachers at Charlie Smith High School in the depressed South St Andrew constituency have been working feverishly to ensure that the performance of students in this year's sitting of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations improves dramatically.
Errol Smikle, acting principal, said student performance has improved in the last two years, with the school implementing several programmes. He noted that these programmes would continue this year.
"We have improved a lot. Last year, quite a number of students got between three and seven subjects and some have moved on to college and sixth form," said Smikle, adding that this has never happened in the school's history.
He continued: "We are not a Wolmer's or Jamaica College, but we try to help out our students as best as we can."
Smikle noted that the school has continued its regular Wednesday morning meetings with the grade-11 students, imploring them to stay focused and reminding them about the importance of the examinations.
The acting principal also noted that students attend intervention classes for mathematics and English language at the nearby St Andrew Technical High School, while the school continues to have its marathon sessions for the two core subjects.
"We also ensure that they understand the syllabus and push and cuss them to do the school-based assessment," he told The Gleaner.
In addition, Smikle said teachers ensure that students get enough past papers to practise and bi-monthly tests are administered.
This year, 35 students will sit a range of CSEC subjects, while the remaining 55 will sit the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competency (CCSLC) examination.
The CCSLC examination is intended to meet the demand for certification of competence for secondary-school students who are not deemed proficient to sit the CSEC examinations.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com