Education Minister Kenson Casimir lauds the performance of the nation’s young academics as they outperformed the rest of the region in the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA). The exit assessment, which is administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), saw St. Lucia secure the top spot in every subject area, both male and female.
Casimir explained that while he was entirely happy with the results, he was sufficiently satisfied with the country’s performance as a whole. He recognized that over the last few years the island has been performing admirably and highlighted the improved performance.
“The subject by subject results present a balanced picture of progress, stability, and areas requiring renewed attention,” the minister said at yesterday’s results ceremony. “As a ministry we celebrate our gains while remaining transparent about the challenges that… confront us.”
A closer look at the results
– Of the 1,890 students who wrote the exam, 961 were girls and 929 were boys.
– The Montessori Centre produced five of the top 16 performances, the single strongest showing at any primary school in the country this year.
– Girls continue to outshine the boys.
“The national mean has risen from 77.24 to 79.26 percent, a meaningful, measurable step forward in one single year,” Casmir stated.
Moreover, he added that while Mathematics has shown improvement—moving from 72.45% in 2025 to 74.69% in 2026—it still remains the lowest-performing subject nationally.
Nonetheless, overall upward trends are encouraging.
“All four subject areas recorded improvements. This tells us that the targeted interventions we introduced guided by assessment data are producing positive results,” Chief Education Officer Beverly Dieudonne stated.
“The strongest performance was recorded in Language Arts. This reflects our deliberate investment in strengthening literacy. We have promoted an integrated approach to the teaching of English Language and in our early grades we continue to strengthen reading instruction through the Jolly Phonics Programme,” she added.
Dieudonne said the Ministry is equally encouraged by the gains in Social Studies and Science which reflect a greater emphasis on inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and student achievement.