Students Can Still Graduate at Fifth Form

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, says that students are allowed to graduate at fifth form but are encouraged to return for two additional years of study under the Sixth-Form Pathways.

“You are allowed to have all your school-leaving ceremonies… do the speeches, take the pictures, do all of that, but we’re saying to you, once you are at home contemplating what you’re going to do, consider these pathways programmes at your school or at a tertiary institution that we have mapped to your school. Consider coming back to do one of those programmes,” she said.

Minister Williams was addressing students at a Sixth-Form Pathway town hall at Excelsior High School in Kingston on Thursday (November 18).

The programme, which comes into effect during the current 2021/2022 school year, is part of the Ministry’s implementation of a seven-year high-school programme.

It allows for students who complete grade 11 to enrol in the programme and pursue a two-year course of study with alternative opportunities alongside the traditional sixth-form curriculum.

Students will have the opportunity to continue their education in one of three pathways.

These are the Traditional pathways comprising the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), a certificate and or associate degree, or Council of Community College of Jamaica/University Council of Jamaica (CCCJ/UCJ)-accredited associate degree; Technical pathway – Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate/Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CSEC/CAPE), National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training/Caribbean Vocational Qualification (NCTVET/CVQ) Levels 2 or 3; or the General pathway – CSEC, City and Guilds, and NCTVET Level 2.

Mrs. Williams said that the Ministry will provide guidance in helping students select a pathway.

“We will help you find out what you want to do, and if during that period you find your footing, and you want to [re]do some Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, that will be accommodated,” she said.

She assured that the traditional sixth-form or grades 12 to 13 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) programme will not be modified.

“CAPE subjects will continue to be your subjects of choice if you choose to do CAPE. What we’re doing is creating additional opportunities for those students who have decided that the sixth-form CAPE programme is not the pathway that they would like to go on,” she said.

Students will be able to secure multiple qualifications within the two years and acquire college credits that will provide a head start in their tertiary studies.

For those who choose not to attend a tertiary institution, the certification they receive at the end of the Sixth-Form Pathways programme will prepare them to enter various fields of work or receive further general or technical training.