Saint Kitts and Nevis

Four years of secondary education are compulsory for every child on St. Kitts and Nevis. The traditional secondary schools receive a limited number of pupils who have clearly shown ability and interest in academic education by age 12 and who may reasonably be expected to pass the G. C. E. "O" level exam or the academic subject exams of the CXC. Under the current arrangement, all students move into secondary school, but may follow slightly different curricula. Students finishing secondary school may move into the Advanced Vocational Education Centre (AVEC) in preparation for the local college or they can transfer directly to the college if they possess the requisite skills.

In the year 2000 there were 263 teachers and 3,532 pupils at the secondary level on St. Kitts, approximating a 1 to 13 teacher/student ratio. On Nevis there were 45 teachers to 926 pupils with a larger ratio of about 1 to 20. The combined number of teachers on both islands at this level was 260. Pupils totaled 4,458.