The decision to implement the Caribbean Primary Exit Examination (CPEE) for our OECS students as a mandate to CXC by Education Ministers (to include Petter Saint Jean) in 2012 is welcome news.
Concerned students, parents, teachers and other Dominicans who cherish the value of relevant and valid programs of education and training at the Dominica State College (DSC) also welcome too Prime Minister Skerrit’s utterances that CXC’s Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE), mandated and ratified in 1984, will be introduced in 2011 – although there is the urgent need for policy decision and a preparatory period of at least two (2) years.
The OECS Ministers of Education (to include the then DFP Minister Rupert Sorhaindo) in October 1991 at the Fort Young Hotel in Dominica, ratified the recommended CPEE initiative as spelt out in the document ‘Foundation for the Future: OECS Reform Strategy’.
The Fifteenth Strategy of that OECS Document recommended seven components (pages 78 & 79) to improve the Quality of Primary Education. What the component, specific to CPEE, proposed are:
1. The development of functional standards that primary schooling should achieve;
2. To develop measures that would assess the readiness of students to embark on courses of instruction;
3. To assess the progress and diagnose the problems during the instructional process;
4. To develop the functional standards for the entire sub- region (OECS);
5. Responsibility to develop and administer the tests and measures to assess these standards would be contracted to CXC.
Minister Saint Jean must therefore urgently utilize the experiences of some of our Caribbean countries, the services of CXC and expertise locally and elsewhere, in the Operational Planning, Implementation and Evaluation Processes to guide the laying of a solid foundation for both CAPE (which he earlier proclaimed was not on his Agenda) and CPEE.
Minister Saint Jean must also include in his education and training agenda the legislative framework required to replace the General Certificate Examination (GCE) A Levels with CAPE to provide regional and international competitive opportunities and significant transparency for the benefit of our future and less fortunate Caribbean Secondary Examination Certification (CSEC) students.
Minister Saint Jean must further put on his agenda the adherence to Quality Assurance Procedures not only for CPEE and CAPE but also for the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) all of which are regional initiatives already in operation in some of our OECS or larger CARICOM Countries.
The Government and People of Dominica can be assured that the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) will continue to recommend policy direction that is appropriate, relevant, valid and reliable for the different levels, to include the proposed pre-primary Stage (3-5 years) of our education and training system.
Herbert Sabaroche is a former Minister of Education & OECS Education & Training Coordinator/Education & Training Consultant
I am hoping to see the arrival of CAPE to our schools. As a parent of a teenage child hoping to return to Dominica after completing studies overseas,this has been an area of concern for my wife and I since we would like our child to have a chance to study anywhere she chooses. CAPE will give our young people a chance to be further educated at UWI and UK schools if they so desire.
When i can get the same 60 credits that i am getting fro my associate degree from a US school, I will do CAPE and A levels, right now I am just not interested. I will leave that for those who want to do medicine. I can not afford to study in the UK,and or UWI to do medicine by the way UWI accepts students with the AS degree into law, so so long CAPE or A levels.
As of the TECVoc, sometimes I regret that I did not do some course there instead. My brother goes to DSC and he is doing Ref, he did electronics already and he has a thriving business, has more work that he can do. PRAIZE GOD FOR TECVOC
td!
You must be commended for raising some pertinent issues, although I am
not in sink with some of your line of though.
The gentleman happens to have emerged from among the less fortunate.
Fortunate students like myself at that time apparently excelled like he
did. Some of us could have fallen, like good seeds, on barren ground and
faded away for one reason or another as life goes on. The vision from
one perspective for some of us is for individual mobility through
education and training for the benefit of self, community and country.
Education and Training historically ranged from being conservative to
radical and should not be linked to partisan philosophies to say the
least. you should agree with me that we analyze historical perspective
from which lessons emerge and these together with other initiatives help
us to plan for the present and the future.
I had the previlege to experience the work of the gentleman and read
his many published research pieces in Technical and Vocational Education
and Training (TVET), so enough said on that. With reference to CAPE,
the PM like many of us have done the required search and are now
convinced that this is the way to go. But of course we must plan to
succeed
My serious bone of contention with you rests with two other issues you
raised.
Firstly you stated that “I can vouch for the type and quality of
assessment being done in primary school sector in Dominica. It is
probably one of, if not, the best in the OECS and Barbados”.You may be
correct but;
How did you arrive at this conclusion? Why use the words ‘VOUCH’ and
‘PROBABLY’? Has our local Accreditation Body (in accordance with the
2006 Accreditation Act) undertaken what in professionally referred to as
‘Quality Assurance Procedures’? When was this undertaken and what was
the result?
Did you know that Barbados’ Primary Exit Examination is ‘accredited’
and ‘certified’ by CXC?
My second hinges on the first. You stated ” Dominica should be the “best
practice” or model for educational assessment at the primary school as
it already is for curriculum development”.
Again you may be dead right. Are you then confirming that we built on
the lessons we learnt from the experiences of the past 20 or so years?
Is quality assurance restricted to Curriculum Development and Assessment
only? Should we continue to assess based on simple local opinion?
Should we not include the assessment of our human capacity (teachers,
principal & support staff among others), physical facilities,
teaching and learning resources, instructional strategies, information
system and record keeping, and the support system in place for our
students with special needs? Should we not utilize a functional local
Accreditation Body and CXC to provide us with valid and reliable data to
analize to guide our policy decisions?
Hope all of us can identify lessons to learn from our contributions to
help us give direction to the implementation of the CPEE and CAPE as
necessary initiatives for the benefit of our all our students in
Dominica
There is absolutely no point to the implementation of the CPEE as long as the idiotic Universal Secondary Education ( USE ) is going to remain in place as is.
WHAT IS THE POINT?
Does that mean that primary schoolers will have to pay to sit the common entrance the same way one pay to do the csec?
I like his shirt
why do i get the feeling that the Dominica Freedom Party is the best party right now,,,,,i doh know but i have a gut feeling,,,,, i think it has to do with the leader,,,,something about her is is is,,,, i doh know how to explain it but it groovy lol
What concerns me is the way your arguments for these initiatives are linked to “less fortunate.” The biggest danger to our education system is not the non-adoption of regional initiatives and ratification of agreements but the philosophies and rationales that drive their adoption. While there is some advantage in being able to at least be honest about your warrants, I still see in this article the conservative philosophies on education that has historically characterised the policies of the Dominica Freedom Party. Technical-vocational education should be available to all students and not just to those teachers determine are failing. CAPE must also have international currency that involves credit transfers to ungird the “regional and international competitiveness” to which you refer. Finally, while the regional approach to assessment in the primary school may be essential but I can vouch for the type and quality of assesment being done in primary school sector in Dominica. It is probably one of, if not, the best in the OECS and Barbados. The analysis of these results and the efforts to take it out of the public domain to make it more instruction and development centered is laubable. Unless the kind and quality fo information and the approach to administering the exams is similar to those we currently have, we should not introduce it into Dominica. Moreover, Foundations of our Future is about 20 years old (I stand corrected), updated with PPP about 2000. It is unbeleivable that this is still a blueprint for action. Clearly, in the absent of its timely implementation, Dominica had moved ahead and is well ahead of any OECS country. This is why several OECS countries have used our Curriculum and Assessment Unit as the model and for study tours for the development of theirs. We should not settle for anything less than what we already have, and we need to recognize how good we are in both assessment and curriculum development. Dominica should be the “best practice” or model for educational assessment at the primary school as it already is for curriculum development.
Boy it have soooo much versions of that nursery rhyme…. Together : 1, two, 3…..
Little tummy sabby singing for his supper.
Wipe sabby wipe, wipe your whipping eyes.
Sabby looking for a work and it is not volunteer …. all fall dong!
Very well articulated Mr. Sabby.
well said
Saborouche you are of no relevance