CXC probing alleged leak of exam paper

Controversy has hit the ongoing Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination after the Math Paper 2 was reportedly leaked on Wednesday.
In a brief statement, the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) said it was investigating reports of the examination breach.
“The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is aware of the concerns that the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Math Paper 02, which was written today (Wednesday, 17 May 2023) was leaked,” the regional body stated.
According to the Council, “This matter is of great concern to us, we have commenced our investigations and will make a definitive statement once the investigation is completed. In the meantime, candidates can rest assured that this matter is being treated with the highest urgency.”
Efforts to contact Guyana’s Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, were futile. However, Chief Education Officer at the Education Ministry, Saddam Hussain, told Guyana Times, when contacted on Wednesday evening, that he was only aware of the issue through the CXC-issued statement.
“As far as I know, I don’t know of any breach. I just saw the CXC statement which is saying there was a breach… We’re not aware of anything like that locally… [But] I stand committed that our examination machinery is among the best in the Caribbean,” CEO Hussain related to this newspaper.
While CXC did not mentioned in which country the breach occurred, there were several reports from various media entities in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) that indicate that students there had access to the paper after it was leaked.
According to an article by the Searchlight newspaper in St Vincent, the CXC Paper was leaked prior to the exam to some students.
“Searchlight has confirmed that photographs of the pages of the CXC Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics Paper 2 were shared in a chat app the night before the exam and were seen by some students of at least two secondary schools in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” the newspaper reported.
The article quoted a source who said that some of the students saw the leaked paper on Tuesday night and others just before the exam. The source also confirmed that the questions circulated were the same as those that appeared in Wednesday exam. (G8)