City & Guilds Provides a Viable Exit Exam Option for Students

Students are being encouraged to consider the City and Guilds Mathematics proficiency examination as a viable exit option to the regionally administered Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam.

City and Guilds is an internationally recognised British examination body based in London and with operations in 80 countries globally.

Mathematics Coach in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Tameka Lodge-Fenton, told a JIS Think Tank, today (September 4), that the offering of the subject by City & Guilds is aimed at ensuring that every student in the secondary education system leaves with an exit pass in Maths, based on their career interests.

“City and Guilds offers a stage 1, 2 and 3 in Mathematics. So, if students want an exam option, City and Guilds is a good option [as] many students will not be pursuing traditional career paths which require extensive Mathematics. City & Guilds suits its purpose in allowing the child to be numerate in order to solve problems and function well in society,” she said.

She added that the three stages of the City and Guilds Mathematics curriculum works against the stigma attached to the subject with early introduction and by helping students who find the subject challenging.

“If the teacher engages well with the curriculum that City & Guilds offers, the students will do excellently. We have a stigma attached to mathematics, and several of our Jamaican students are not finding the subject one that they choose to do. However, it is a core subject, and it must be done, so if you engage students with City & Guilds, you can begin them with stage 1, move them up to stage 2 and then you want them to sit stage 3, because it maps closest to the regional exam,” Ms. Lodge-Fenton said.

Passes in stage 3 City & Guilds Mathematics are equivalent to CSEC Mathematics and are accepted by tertiary institutions regionally and internationally.

For his part, Chief Business Executive at City & Guilds, Dr. Ventley Brown, noted that more than 200 high schools across Jamaica are engaged with the City and Guilds Mathematics and English skills examination curricula.

This is possible through an ongoing partnership with the Education Ministry, which subsidises the cost of the examinations for students recommended by their teachers.

“It is at no cost to the parent or the student as long as they’re recommended for the particular stage. We provide workshops for teachers and we provide support for students. We have what is called the Quality Academy that is operated online. It provides a framework or scaffolding for teachers to help them better understand concepts and rulings and procedures of engaging quality standards around the particulars that he or she will deliver,” he said.

City & Guilds signed a 10-year contract in November 2019 to provide examinations in Maths, English, Customer Service, Engineering and Skills Proficiency Awards across 12 occupational pathways.

Teachers in participating schools make their recommendations for students to undertake the City & Guilds skills programmes, based on a diagnostic test approach.