Team convened to review administration of the July/August 2020 examinations
This week was expected to see a resolution to the ungraded results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) for impacted students, who protested the matter last Friday morning (Oct 02).
The students of the TA Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) picketed in front the Ministry of Education building in Saint George’s, calling on the Minister of Education Hon Emmalin Pierre to take responsibility for the issue and give an explanation forthwith.
Member of the student body Donald Noel voiced that they are displeased about the situation and asked of the Ministry to file a complaint on their behalf. The students said the grades did not match their preparation nor students’ capability or performance throughout their courses.
Nonetheless, later that day, a news release from the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Religious Affairs and Information informed that the matter was investigated, and action was taken to rectify the discrepancies.
The release explained that “The main issue stemmed from the fact that although TAMCC placed scores for students on CXC’s online registration system, the College did not upload all of the student’s SBAs by CXC’s deadline, so that CXC could have access to it.
“The matter was brought to the attention of all stakeholders concerned, including CXC, which then decided to allow TAMCC to upload the SBAs. They were uploaded on September 24, 2020 and sent to the Caribbean Examinations Council to be moderated.”
Therefore, the Ministry assured that “CXC has been working on the issue and has indicated that it will be fully resolved by the week beginning Oct 05, 2020.”
The subjects affected are Pure Mathematics (Unit 1 and 2); Entrepreneurship (Unit 1 and 2); Environmental Science (Unit 1); Management of Business (Unit 1); Sociology (Unit 2); Communication Studies; Caribbean Studies and Law (Unit 1).
Further, the Ministry noted that other than the above-stated issue, it has not officially received any query or request for reviews from any of the lecturers at the TAMCC, on behalf of any student. This, the Ministry officials said, is the official procedure to be taken by the October 23, 2020 deadline.
Meanwhile, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CXC, Dr Wayne Wesley, at a recent press conference noted that reviews will only be done in cases where complaints or requests for reviews are submitted by the respective ministries of education.
Defending the integrity of the grades, Dr Wesley did not agree to possible anomalies, noting that there are rigorous cross-checking measures. He also noted that despite the changes to the examinations due to COVID-19 challenges, the grading system remained the same.
However, Chairman of the Caribbean Examinations Council® (CXC®), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, convened a team to review the modified approach for the administration of the July/August 2020 CSEC® and CAPE® Examinations; the moderation process applied to the School-Based Assessment (SBA) for the July/August 2020 CSEC® and CAPE® Examinations, and the grading process for the July/August 2020 CSEC® and CAPE® examinations, among other related matters.
Chair of the review team is Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald, Professor Emerita and retired Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Open Campus, The University of the West Indies. Other members of the team are Professor Andrew Downes, retired Pro Vice- Chancellor, Planning and Development, The University of the West Indies; Professor Francis De Lanoy, President of the University of Curacao; Mr. Harrilal Seecharan, retired Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; and the Hon. Michael S. Browne, Minister of Education in Antigua and Barbuda and Chair of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD).
The team met on Friday October 02, 2020, commenced work immediately and is expected to report to the Chairman of CXC® by Friday October 16, 2020.
