Antigua and Barbuda recorded a 30.3 per cent pass rate in CSEC Mathematics this year, placing the country nearly 12 percentage points below the regional average and prompting education officials to promise intensified intervention in schools.

Director of Education Clare Browne described Mathematics as the most troubling aspect of the country’s preliminary 2026 CSEC results.

“We’re at 30 per cent. The regional average is 42. We are way below the regional average,” Browne said during an ABS Presents discussion on the results.

“The Ministry of Education takes cognizance of that. I said earlier there is work to be done.”

CXC Local Registrar Maritza West confirmed the 30.3 per cent result while presenting the country’s subject performance figures.

“As we can see, the Mathematics is still underperforming with the 30 per cent,” West said.

Browne said the poor result was particularly disheartening because the ministry’s Mathematics Unit and teachers have already been working to improve student performance.

“I know the Mathematics Unit has been doing much. I know our teachers have been doing much in terms of seeking to improve the Mathematics situation,” he said.

“And it just appears as if the struggle is real and the struggle continues. But the struggle — we will continue to fight until we overcome.”

The director said the ministry would continue strengthening teacher quality and directing additional resources toward Mathematics, where the need is greatest.

The Mathematics Unit has been expanded to include two education officers, with one concentrating primarily on primary schools and another focusing on upper primary and secondary education.

Browne said officials would examine the placement of Mathematics teachers at each secondary school and ensure they are assigned to positions where they can deliver the best results.

He also warned that possessing the necessary qualifications would not be enough if a teacher consistently failed to deliver.

“Even if you have the paper qualifications and you’re not delivering, and we have to kind of move you out of a situation, then we will,” Browne said.

“I’m not knocking teachers because I know our teachers are trying hard. But we’re ensuring that we place our Mathematics teachers in the best possible position so that they are able to do the best for their charges.”

Curriculum officers are also expected to enter classrooms to monitor Mathematics instruction and provide teachers with direct mentoring and support.

“We’re going to be going into the classrooms, monitoring and mentoring, because we need to be sure as to what is happening there,” Browne said.

The ministry will also examine school timetables to determine whether students are receiving the required amount of Mathematics instruction.

Under the ministry’s policy, primary students from Grade One to Grade Six should receive at least 255 minutes of Mathematics instruction each week, while kindergarten students should receive 200 minutes.

At the secondary level, first-form students attending schools operating on a five-day timetable should receive six Mathematics periods per week. Students in Forms Two through Five should receive at least five periods.

Schools operating on a six-day cycle should provide first-form students with seven Mathematics periods and students in Forms Two through Five with six.

“We’re going to be checking to ensure that students are getting the requisite hours in quality Mathematics,” Browne said.

The director acknowledged that improving the national results would require sustained effort and difficult decisions.

“If we have to move people out, then we’re prepared to move people out,” Browne said. “We have to do something. It cannot be business as usual.”

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda’s Mathematics Pass Rate Falls to 30.3 Per Cent.