At the historic first-ever National Schools’ Awards ceremony hosted at Goodwill Parish Hall this week, Dominica’s Minister of Education Octavia Alfred unveiled a suite of landmark academic performance results that position the island nation as a leading performer across the Caribbean secondary education landscape.
Minister Alfred shared that national pass rates for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), stand 11.3 percentage points higher than the regional average, a milestone that far outpaces peer nations across the Caribbean Community. Further granular data shows that Dominica outperforms the regional benchmark in 30 out of 32 individual CSEC subject areas, with a striking 92% of students earning passing grades in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) coursework, a priority area for workforce development across the region.
The minister also highlighted steady, ongoing progress in foundational core competencies: pass rates for the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCLLC) have climbed to 88.4% for English and 94.9% for mathematics, while national literacy and numeracy metrics continue their upward trajectory. Alfred noted that while the jurisdiction has much to celebrate, targeted improvement efforts are still underway to boost student outcomes in creative writing.
The landmark awards ceremony, organized to recognize exceptional academic achievement across the island’s school system, bestowed honours on 42 high-achieving students, marking the first official national celebration of secondary education excellence in Dominica’s recent history.
Education Minister Octavia Alfred – Dominica 11.3 per cent above regional average in CSEC
