Education Sector Plan: Education for All: Embracing Change, Securing Finale | Page 26

Education for All: Embracing Change, Securing the Future
Data on repetition and dropout are also instructive in homing in on access and participation challenges in compulsory
education. As shown for 2013–2014, enrolment at the primary level is stable throughout each grade, however repetition
is greatest in Kindergarten, which can likely be attributed to the significant number of students who are underage
(23%) and may not have entered formal schooling with the ‘learning readiness skills’ needed for success in the early
grades. At the secondary level, while repetition is generally low in Forms 1, 2, and 5 (2% each), it is higher in Form 3
(4%) and highest in Form 4 (7%), which contributes to the increasing share of the overage student body in Forms 3–5.
Although the transition rate from lower to upper secondary is high at 99%, the repetition rates in Forms 3 and 4
presented above suggest that this transition can be difficult for some students.
Figure 6: Student enrolment pyramid by grade, gender, and repeater conditions, 2013–2014
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5th Form
4th Form
5
2nd Form
5th grade
2nd grade
1st grade
Kindergarten
Males – New students
442 8
0
386 403 7
367 371
356
1 385 367
3 372
31 377
–200
Males – Repeaters
1
1
2
423
362
459
–400
10
402 396
0
18
443 374 2
1
3rd grade
–600
422
7
4th grade
40
455
469
7
8
428
434
17
7
6th grade
Preschool
461
25
3rd Form
336
334
0
1
23
396 0
200 400
Females – New students
600
Females – Repeaters
Source: EMIS data as depicted in UNICEF (2016), Graph 3.
Nonetheless, there is diminishing enrolment between Forms 1 and 5, especially between Forms 4 and 5, as indicated
in Figure 7. While a comprehensive cohort analysis has not yet been conducted, assuming cohorts of a stable size,
the 22% gap in enrolment between Form 1 and Form 5 points to significant retention issues that ought to be explored
and addressed. 15 In fact, data further indicate that for the 2013–2014 year, 1 out of 7 students aged 14 and older left
secondary school before completing the cycle, and the dropout rate was 27% in Form 4 (GoSKN, 2014c; UNICEF,
2015). It should be noted, however, that the significant decline in enrolment between Form 4 and 5 is sanctioned by
the MoE, as students in the lowest academic streams of Forms 4 are considered ‘school leavers’, since they are not
expected to progress to Form 5 to take the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Caribbean Certification of Secondary
Level Competence (CSEC Exams). 16
While data on the trajectories of out-of-school children have not been collected, EMIS data for 2014 indicate that out
of the 229 students leaving school after Form 4 in 2013-2014, 183 (86 male and 97 female) or 80% were absorbed into
remedial post-secondary programmes offered by the Advanced Vocational Education Centre (AVEC). Others were likely
benefit from post-secondary ‘safety-net training’ provided through the MoE and Ministries of Social Development in
St. Kitts and Nevis. 17 Considering both the significant expense and typically lower terminality rates of post-secondary
level training, increasing retention rates and improving learning support in secondary education would be more
sustainable and cost effective (UNESCO, 2014).
15. This indicator was not derived from a cohort analysis, but is a proxy for what the size of the fifth form should look like assuming stable
cohorts at the level.
16. Students in the lowest academic streams in Form 4 attend school part time to complete academic subjects (English, Mathematics,
and other topics that vary by school) and participate in a job attachment programme on a part-time basis. In St. Kitts, the school-to-
work-based programme is the A’Ganar Programme, coordinated through the post-secondary National Skills Training Programme. In
Nevis, individual secondary schools organize job attachments for identified students.
17. The social protection programmes MEND/RISE will strategically address some issues pertaining to school dropout in families (i.e. skill
development, continuing education opportunities, access to employment, access to government assistance pending employment) and
build on existing programmes in St. Kitts and Nevis. Existing programmes in Nevis include, but are not limited to, ‘Youth at Work’ and
the ‘Second Chance Teen Mothers’ programme.