7176 Standard Six students from across the country sat the first part of the Primary School Examination (PSE) on Monday, March 26th. The main purpose of the PSE is to measure the achievement levels of students who have completed their primary education in Belize.
At the San Pedro High School, which is one of the examination centers in the Belize District, 197 students sat the PSE. The students are from Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker.
According to the Ministry of Education, out of the 7176 students that registered for the 2012 PSE, 3562 are females and 3614 are males. This represents a 3.9% increase over the 2011 students registered. 17 of the examinees were registered as private candidates and 140 as special needs candidates.
The students sat English Paper I which was the English Language comprising of multiple choice questions and Paper II which was the writing section. In the Science section, the students were given 50 multiple choice questions.
For Tanairi Arana, a standard six student of San Pedro Roman Catholic School (SPRCS), the first part of the examination was fairly easy. “Our teachers did prepare us very well for it so I didn’t find so much of a struggle so I would say it was fairly easy,” said a confident Arana. She explained that some of the Science questions were challenging but that she managed to capitalize in the English Paper II where she tackled the short story and letter writing components.
For Edwin Caballero, also a student from SPRCS, the PSE had some parts that were easy and challenging at the same time in the different subject area. “The beginning of English Paper it was easy, then I ran into a few challenging questions. I eventually got over it and completed the exam… the Science part however, was a little easier,” said Caballero.
The second part of the PSE will take place on Monday, May 7th. On that date, the candidates will sit Mathematics Papers I and II and a 50-item Social Studies multiple choice paper.
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