By Zaya Williams

The race for the title of the top CSEC student is fiercely competitive this year, but the suspense continues as officials are refraining from revealing any names just yet.

Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) local Registrar, Myrick Smith, has explained that the delay in announcing the top student is due to the dynamic nature of the results. Smith remarked, “We are unable to release any names because a number of things could happen that could cause the student we identified as the top performer to change.”

Traditionally, the student with the highest number of Grade Ones is declared the top student. This year, preliminary results indicate that the frontrunner may have achieved a remarkable feat by passing all 23 of their subjects, securing 20 Grade Ones and 3 Grade Twos.

The runner-up, as it currently stands, boasts an impressive record of 26 subjects, including 19 Grade Ones, 6 Grade Twos, and 1 Grade Three.

Interestingly, the third-place position appears to be up for grabs, with two students tied at 17 Grade Ones, 2 Grade Twos, and one subject result still pending.

Director of Education Clare Browne commented, “The way it looks, there is no way of eclipsing these four students, but because the results are so close among these students, we cannot name the students just yet.” Browne, however, hinted that the order of these top-performing students could change.

Smith and Browne did share that the first and second-place students are likely to hail from St. Joseph’s Academy, with the other two from Baptiste Academy. Nevertheless, they emphasized that they were hesitant to designate a “top” school because it takes into account various factors beyond just pass rates.

Browne explained this by saying, “Top performing does not necessarily mean that just because you might have achieved a 90 percent pass rate, you automatically rank as the top school. You have to look at other factors… because you could achieve a 90 percent pass rate with only 5 students in your school, while another school with an 89 or 87 percent pass rate may have 100 students. How do you compare those schools?”

Smith provided a telling example, highlighting that one school had only 5 students sitting for a total of 36 subjects, while another school with a whopping 138 students had completed a grand total of 794 subjects.

As the anticipation builds and the competition remains close, the education community eagerly awaits the final results, ready to celebrate the outstanding achievements of these remarkable students.