The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) on Wednesday announced that the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) would be further delayed by two weeks as a result of the novel coronavirus.
Consequently, the examinations would now commence on Thursday June 28, 2021. Meanwhile, results are slated to be released between the last week of September and the first week of October 2021.
CXC Registrar Wayne Wesley
Additionally, it has been announced that all exams would be administered in their original format. This includes Papers 1, 2 and SBA or Paper 3 for CSEC.
The deadline for candidates to defer has been extended to May 31, while the deadline for submission of SBAs has been extended to June 30.
Further in regard to Paper 2, topics that were released on May 10, a review is being done with a view to offering more clarity. Result of said review would be released no later than Friday of this week.
According to Registrar of CXC, Wayne Wesley, at a press conference on Wednesday, these changes will “provide candidates with extra time to prepare for the examinations.”
He explained that prior to making these decisions, CXC engaged in regional consultation with governments and other stakeholders to ensure that they come up with a concept that would lead to the proper planning of the examinations to benefit the majority, if not everyone, in the region.
“Whenever we seek to gain consensus, it’s always difficult to benefit everyone… But whatever solution we come up with, we want to ensure that the majority if not all benefits,” Wesley noted.
These extensions stemmed from a Special Council Meeting on Tuesday, where a report from the School’s Examinations Committee accepted and reviewed recommendations on the strategy for the 2021 regional examinations, which emanated from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) through the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) at its 28th special meeting.
At that COHSOD meeting, regional teachers, students and members of Governments were able to share their opinions and concerns about the 2021 examinations.
Wesley noted it was “after careful deliberations and consideration of the pertinent issues” that the Examination Council agreed on these changes.
Following its May 12 meeting, COHSOD had proposed that CXC review recommendations made to adjust the format of the examinations in order to achieve efficiency, equity and fairness in the administration of the examinations, while maintaining the integrity of the process.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Chairman of CXC, Professor Hilary Beckles, said the COHSOD meeting was an excellent display of Caribbean unity, organisation and integration.
“Even though there are national differences, even though there are domestic differences across the region, what we heard at COHSOD was a commitment to flexibility, a commitment to compromise so that we can emerge with a package, with a strategy and a methodology. And this, of course, is precisely what happened,” he stated.
Professor Beckles disclosed that some countries wanted to defer the exams for periods ranging between three to five weeks. However, he stated, “practicality” had to be taken into consideration.
“The majority of the countries were saying we are ready now and we don’t want any delay,” the CXC Chairman said.
Only on Tuesday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) made an appeal for the upcoming Caribbean examinations to be adjusted and the current design modified to ensure that students are not further disadvantaged during the pandemic.
In a statement signed by a Representative for Guyana and Suriname, Nicholas Pron, as well as other regional counterparts, calls were made for CXC and the Education Ministers to simplify the content.
It was recognised that efforts were made already to reduce certain requirements for these examinations and making concessions. Those include providing the topics for the papers, extending submission dates for some subjects, facilitating deferments to 2022 if students meet specific criteria, as well as current discussion to postpone the exams. However, there are still a number of issues which require more substantial changes and flexibility.
No changes have been made for the Paper One, which will still cover the entire syllabus, and no clear structure on how those students who choose to defer will be supported to sit the exams at a later date in 2022.
In addition, natural disasters such as the recent eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in St Vincent have had an additional negative impact on the learning of thousands of students.
