CXC topics for 2021 exams now available for students – CEO

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) 2021 examinations will be written in June-July 2021, and topics which students need to cover have been released by the Education Ministry.
Chief Education Officer, Dr Marcel Hutson indicated in a briefing on Friday that the topics will be disseminated through the Guyana Learning Channel, social media handles and traditional media outlets. The early release is expected to benefit those persons who want to embark on early studies.

“The Caribbean Examinations Council has decided to release the broad topics that should be covered for Paper Two examinations…Once those topics would have been released, we are going disseminate those topics through various mediums to ensure that the topics get to our students so that they could embark on their studies. We want our students to perform to their optimum,” Hutson outlined.
Following the topics will be structure lessons in each area, to further boost Guyana’s success at the examinations. The CEO pointed out that the country has a history of scoring well in the region and officials want to continue this trend.
“Once that is done, we are going to have videos, lessons done, questions and answers in relation to each topic because we want to ensure that we give our children a good advantage in terms of how they will perform at the examination. Over the years, we have done well and we want to ensure that we keep that rich tradition where our Guyanese students would have performed optimally in these examinations,” the education official highlighted.
The Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) exams will be written from June 14 to July 16. This year, CXC returned to the normal format which includes both Paper One and Paper Two components, in addition to Paper Three for private candidates.
Meanwhile, the Council will for the first time accept Student-Based Assessments (SBAs) in January 2022 for candidates deferring to sit exams for subjects offered in that period. This decision was made in light of the disruption COVID-19 and the La Soufrière volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines have caused to the education system in the region.
The regional regulatory body said that it was cognisant of the many challenges across the region at this time and has recognised that not all candidates may be ready for assessment during the June-July 2021 examinations cycle. As a result, the examination body said it has opted to offer candidates the option.
Meanwhile, CXC explained that “the granting of the deferral will be managed by the principal for in-school candidates, and by the CXC Local Registrar for private candidates”. Further, for candidates wishing to make use of this option, the examination body was offering it free of charge. However, candidates were required to indicate same by May 1.
In efforts to continually meet the needs of candidates and stakeholders, SBA requirements have been reduced by as much as 50 per cent in some subjects.
Although students have not yet returned to the classroom in full following the Easter term break, Education Minister Priya Manickchand expressed confidence last month that they would perform well at the CSEC and CAPE exams this year. She had said despite the pandemic, students are receiving a quality education that would ensure their success.