 The results of the 2021 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate CSEC have been released. While there have been improvements in student performance, mathematics and English remain challenging subject areas for students. The Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training presented the results of the 2021 CXC examinations. St. Lucia participates in three of the Caribbean Examination Council's examinations, namely the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competent, CCSLC, the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination CAPE and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examination, CSEC. Redistribe examinations Kamelita, Matthew explained that there was a slight decrease in the overall CSEC performance as the average declined from 78.1 in 2020 to 76.75 in 2021. 24 subjects obtained a pass rate of over 70 percent, 19 out of the 31 subject areas recorded an increase in performance while 12 recorded a reduction in performance. Pass rates for the individual subjects range from 49.54 to 100 percent, with mathematics having the lowest and theater arts having the highest pass rates. The registrar of examinations noted that mathematics continued to pose a challenge for the candidates sitting the exam. Students are performing better in English A than in mathematics. For mathematics, the only time we've gone above 50 percent is for the 2018 examination. And we have remained in the below 50 for the past four years. So we are seeing that for English language, we have been over the 70 percent mark and in 2019 and 2020, we reached the 80 percent mark and we can see a drop again in performance of the 2021 examination period. English B papers have not been graded as yet as candidates wrote the exams at a later date due to the passage of the storm. As such, these results will be provided at a later date. The registrar of examinations examining the results noted that while females outperform the males, the males have improved significantly. For CSEC, we could see that the females have outperformed the males in their pass rates, 45.25 for the females and for the males, 31.49 percent. For CAPE, we can see the very same again, but with a greater margin. The females, 67.78 and the male, 37.99. So we could see that in both instances, the females have outperformed the males. But males are showing outstanding performances in 12 subject areas. For CSEC, agricultural science, both double and single awards, they've outperformed the females in geography, in human and social biology, in industrial technology, all three subjects, woods, electrical and the mechanical, information technology, integrated science, physical education and sports, technical drawing and the visual arts. So these are the 12 subject areas that students, the male students have outperformed the females. And that is very commendable. Among 2,109 candidates sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination CSEC. Candidates were tested in 31 areas at a total of 21 testing centers, as three schools did not sit the examination this year and will be doing so in 2022. Not in the realities of COVID-19 and its impact on the education sector, the Registrar of Examinations, Kamelita Matthew, thanked students for their resilience and commitment to their studies, despite the many challenges, resulting in a satisfactory performance. From the Government Information Service, I am General Norvel.