Last month, the Caribbean Examinations Council was making news in outlets all across the Caribbean. That's because hundreds of students in the region began complaining publicly that the grades they got after sitting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE) were much lower than they anticipated.
Students who are normally top-scorers in their classes began to publicly question the validity of those results because their those grades did not match up to their regular academic performances in the past.
That led to several public calls for the Council to review the test papers and grade them a second time, to ensure that there were no mistakes.
In response, the leadership of the Caribbean Examinations Council convened an independent investigating team, made up of accomplished Caribbean educators, to carefully review the modified approach that was used to administer the July/August exams, and the grading process which was used.
The independent review team delivered the first draft of their report to the leadership of CXC last Friday, and on Sunday, the Chairman and the Registrar of CXC hosted a 2-hour, region-wide virtual press conference to discuss that report and any queries that members of the Caribbean press had on it.
Here are a few excerpts of the disclosures which CXC leadership made during that press conference 2 days ago:
Sir Hilary Beckles - Chairman, Caribbean Examinations Council "Given the fragmented nature of the eco-system in which schools and ministries are dependent upon CXC, and CXC dependent upon them, that within the context of the logic of this structure, that problems identified as a result could have been placed in a more effective communications response, and that the communications between the various elements the system, could have been more effective. That given the structural change and assessments, there remain, despite the formal efforts of CXC, a measure of misunderstanding about the nature of the changes, particularly within the school's setting."
Dr. Wayne Wesley - Registrar/CEO, Caribbean Examinations Council "In respect of the number of reviews that we received to date, we would have received - for CAPE, 2353 reviews requested. And for CSEC, we would have ungraded being reported 2,550 requests for reviews. And those are being processed as we speak, in the most efficient manner. I must say that right across the region - I will not be able to say to you, territory by territory, but right across the region, there would have been instances where ungraded would have been reported."
Sir Hilary Beckles "We are very sensitive and mindful that many of the students are all keen to get off to their university of choice, and some of them are being held in abeyance. So, we certainly regret all of that, and we intend to get these reviews/remarks done very, very quickly, to allow certainty."
During the extended discussion with members of the press, the Chairman shared his views on the controversy around this year's exam results. Here's what he had to say about the variables, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have had an impact on the performance of this year's cohort of students who sat the exams:
Sir Hilary Beckles "Given the fact that we are operating with a modified examination system, given the fact that there has been a more robust and comprehensive moderation of the SBA's, given the fact that the multiple-choice structure might not have been something that students have practice and experience with, given in fact the overall newness of this modification, as a result of COVID - adjustments - we can understand how maybe this year, more than previous years, we can understand how the gap for many people between the predicted outcome and the actual could have been a greater concern to a larger number of people. We understand all of that, and I think the context can help to explain this. So, what the review, the urgency of it is meant to do is to give the student the opportunity, if they so desire, to say well, you know, I really thought my SBA was going to attract a higher grade, after moderation. I really thought that I had done much better in the multiple-choice. But, the review process is meant to alleviate that anxiety by inserting some degree of certainty. The issue of expectation is nothing you can take lightly, given the fact that these students have gone up through the system, years 1, 2, 3, all the way up to 4th and 5th and 6th forms. So, they have - there's a trajectory of expectation, and it's good that CXC has a review process, to help to bring clarity to outcomes."
