UNICEF calls on CXC to adjust exam plans, content

COVID-19 challanges

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has made an appeal for the upcoming Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations to be adjusted and the current design modified to ensure that students are not further disadvantaged during the pandemic.
Students will be sitting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) this year under the same traditional concept used by the exam body for years.
In a statement signed by 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.
“UNICEF is calling on CXC and the Ministers of Education to make adjustments to the content and administration of these exams, in line with recommendations provided by the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) to ensure that the Region’s school students are not further disadvantaged,” the agency noted.
It was recognised that efforts were made already to reduce certain requirements for these examinations and making concessions. This includes 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.
“As we are aware, the current pandemic context has further exacerbated the gaps in preparedness amongst the most disadvantaged students. This year, there is a higher risk of those students in vulnerable conditions never sitting the exams. This could seriously affect not only their further education at higher secondary or tertiary levels, but their future,” UNICEF said.
It added, “As these high stakes exams are scheduled to proceed amidst a significant disruption to schooling at varying degrees across the Caribbean since early 2020, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and continued partial or full school closures, the heightened risk of being further left behind, in particular students from lower-income households, who continue to experience major challenges in accessing online learning is an important consideration.”
It was pointed out that teachers, parents, and students themselves repeatedly expressed their worries about the low levels of preparedness, as the pandemic and the related impact on education prevented students from attaining learning outcomes as desired. If the exams were to be implemented as decided, the main concern is the low level of preparedness could affect thousands of students across the Region.
“Given these circumstances, UNICEF is calling for an equitable approach to these critical examinations, which takes into account the unequal access to learning due to the digital divide, the reduced curriculum coverage, and the high psycho-emotional stress, among other consequences of the prolonged school closure due to the pandemic,” the statement advised.

CXC and the subject Ministers were asked to further simplify the content and the methodology of the exams across all subjects and adapt the timeline to the challenges currently faced by the students to ensure equitable accessibility and participation for every student.
This includes, as per the CUT recommendations, that Paper One should only test rationalised topics that are tested in Paper Two and not the entire syllabi as the said syllabi would not have been completed; removing all hurdles in Paper Two including compulsory questions and ensuring that no one question item should test two or more content areas.
Recommendations also called for an extended start of the examination by three weeks and release of the rationalised board topics immediately to students and teachers in order to facilitate effective preparation.
The suggestions continued, “Children who are participating in exams in 2021, regardless of the form the exam takes, should be provided with support to ensure they are mentally prepared and have the tools to deal with the added stress of being examined at this time…Governments should guarantee that all children who decide to defer the sitting of exams to 2022 will automatically continue to be registered at their current schools.”
Where a student defers his/her exams to 2022, UNCEF said provisions should be made to ensure financial costs related to schooling are minimised. Services for children who benefited from social protection programmes for which their eligibility is based on age or school attendance, which would have ended in 2021, should be continued.
“These are unprecedented times and will collectively require us to adapt and recreate normalcy and routine, for the many lives disrupted. A moment like this calls for innovative approaches, to stem the effects of COVID-19 on generations to come. UNICEF stands committed to support ongoing efforts whilst making the call for equity and inclusivity, especially for those children and young people, who are now at heightened risk of being left behind.”