‘NGSA does not define your future’ – President Ali

In an address following the release of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results, President Irfaan Ali reminded parents, teachers, and students that this examination does not define a child’s future. Nevertheless, the Head of State congratulated all students on their results and said that the future is bright for them in Guyana.

“To these children, I want you to remember, most of you are still 11 and 12 years old – you have your whole life ahead of you. This is not an exam to determine who is better than who. This is an exam that is administered at a very early stage in your life. Do not use this as the basis on which you determine your future,” President Ali during a video message on his Facebook page.

To the parents and guardians, Dr Ali implored them to also not pressure their children into believing that the NGSA is the most defining moment of their lives.

“It is at this moment that we have to reassure all of our children, those who did exceptionally well and those who may not have done as well as they would like; it is at this moment we must reassure them and tell them they are very young,” the President stated.

Meanwhile, President Ali further expressed pride in the national performance, noting marked improvements across all subject areas, which he attributed to continued investments in the education sector.

“I am very proud of the tremendous improvement in every subject area. It tells you that our investment is getting the results we want. It tells you that our capability and capacity is improving,” he said.

The improvements at the NGSA are also the best performances in five years.

For English language, 69.25% of the pupils passed; last year, this was 66.79%.

In Social Studies, there was a 64.7% pass rate compared to 62.88% last year.

In Science, the pass rate went up from 54% last year to 63.7% this year.

And finally, mathematics- which was described as the “troublesome subject” across the region – the pass rate is 55.51%, compared to 40.36% last year.