Improved performance in PEP exam

KINGSTON, Jamaica—The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information is reporting “measurable gains” in the performance of students in the 2026 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination.Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, provided the performance details during a press conference on Monday at Jamaica House.“Eight per cent of our students are highly proficient at mathematics, 61 per cent are proficient, developing is 30 per cent and beginning is only one per cent. So, beginning ones are really low in terms of maths outcome. So, we're at 69 per cent at proficient and above in mathematics,” she shared.Year-on-year performance moved from 57 per cent in 2023 to 60 and 63 per cent in 2024 and 2025, respectively.“That is significant improvement in mathematics. There is a lot of work that has gone into this. There's obviously more work that we need to do to dispel this fear of mathematics in our country. We have been doing lots of things, for example, having specialist teachers in our schools and also we have our maths camps and we have our maths experts working quite a bit with our schools trying to improve the way we teach maths and also teaching things earlier,” she explained.For language arts, 72 per cent of students were ranked proficient and above.“We had 5.5 per cent of our students being highly proficient, 66.5 per cent of our students proficient, 27 per cent developing and only one per cent at beginning level,” she said.Dr Morris Dixon shared that there has been a 12-percentage-point increase in performance in the subject, from 60 per cent in 2023 to 67 per cent in 2024, then 69 per cent and 72 per cent in 2025 and 2026, respectively.PEP ranks students in four categories of achievement: Beginning – limited or no competence; Developing – partial competence; Proficient – adequate competence, and Highly Proficient – advanced competence.Meanwhile, she advised that the PEP report, which will be released to parents this afternoon, will have a new look.“It’s more user-friendly and more colourful. It includes the numeracy and literacy domain, we use simpler language, and so parents, you will be able to look at how your child has performed – where they are and where they need support,” Dr Morris Dixon said.-JIS