C.U.T says CXC COVID-19 related decisions will negatively affect regional students

The Caribbean Union of Teachers (C.U.T.), the umbrella Organization of Teachers’ Unions in the region, is of the view that decisions made by The Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) and The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will negatively impact students and the region.

A statement issued the CXC Council on the administration of CXC’s 2021 regional examination says it has reduced the SBA requirements by as much as 50 percent in some subjects.

According to the statement, the administration recognizes that some candidates across the region, based on their particular circumstances, may not be ready for assessment during the June/July 2021 examinations.

“Given these circumstances, CXC® has reduced the SBA requirements by as much as 50 percent in some subjects,” the statement said. “This information is outlined in the SBA Student Handbook: Treatment of Syllabuses and School-Based Assessment for the Administration of Examinations published and posted on the CXC® website and shared via social media in November 2020 and February 2021.”

In addition, CXC® will share the broad topics to be assessed on Paper 02 for CSEC® and CAPE® subjects with the Ministries of Education for distribution to all candidates on May 10^th 2021 (5 weeks before the start of the examinations), for subjects where such details are not already available in the syllabus.

The statement further stated that candidates are, however, reminded that the entire syllabus is assessed on Paper 01.

“Following extensive consultations with regional Ministries of Education, CXC® has also implemented a facility for candidates to defer sitting examinations and submitting School Based Assessments (SBAs), until the January 2022 (CSEC®) or the May/June 2022 (CAPE®, CSEC® and CCSLC®) examinations cycle.”

As mentioned by  the council, SBA scores can be transferred for use in the next examination sitting, where the subject is offered and the rules pertaining to the reuse of SBA scores for re-sit candidates remain unchanged.

Candidates may also submit a new SBA, delay submission of SBAs until the chosen sitting and for the first time, CXC® will accept SBAs in January 2022 for candidates deferring to sit examinations for subjects offered in that period.

The release also stated 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 where candidates should indicate intent to defer from the June/July 2021 examination cycle by May 1^st 2021.

There will be no fee charged for the deferral of examinations.

The deferral procedures were shared directly with all Ministries of Education and Local Registrars from across the region on Friday, March 26^th 2021 and Friday, April 9^th 2021 and communications placed on the CXC® website: www.cxc.org.

In preparation for exams, students can also access a range of examination related resource via www.cxc.org/student-central/.

However, the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) is convinced that the approach by CXC to handling the examination challenges posed by the pandemic has created uneasiness and high level of anxiety among stakeholders of the education sector and therefore, renders the entire process as “unfair” for regional students.

The Union states in a release that having consulted with educators and other stakeholders in the region, its position got the overwhelming support of stakeholder in all CARICOM states.

“It is inconceivable that CXC would want to conduct the 2021 examinations as a full-blown exercise in a period of tremendous challenges to Caribbean societies, families, education systems, and individual students,” the release stated. “It becomes even more for students in countries such as St. Lucia, Barbados, and Grenada are currently affected by the volcanic activity underway in St. Vincent. Would it be feasible and just to have examinations within such a context?”

Although CXC has offered students the option of a deferral for one year, C.U.T. finds that the concession is inadequate and encourages “unfairness and injustice”.

C.U.T said the idea of a deferral of this year’s examination by students who have already suffered, will only further aggravate the suffering of these students and the union believes that the effect of this policy is to force students into a situation of deferring their educational development and putting their lives on hold.

“These fears are further exacerbated when issues of how these students accepting deferrals will be assisted have not been addressed,” the release indicated.

C.U.T.’s conviction is that the 2021 examinations should be rationalized to reflect the current situation and firmly believes that a narrowing of the syllabus and informing teachers and students of the topics for the examinations in a timelier manner would better address the challenges that students have faced and provide a more realistic chance of fairly assessing their ability/performance.

“Further, CXC needs to act immediately to gain a level of trust among stakeholders in the education sector and to provide a measure of reassurance to students who are to write the 2021 CSEC and Cape Examinations,” the statement noted.

C.U.T has requested a meeting with COHSOD and CXC to discuss the best interest of all concerned noting that it is paramount that Ministers of Education across the region respond to the plight of the unprepared students and convene an emergency of COHSOD so as to rescue an entire generation of students going down the tube because of decisions that do not reflect the realities on the ground.

“We owe our students a duty of care to ensure that their best interest is guaranteed in any policy decision taken during this most unprecedented and challenging time,” the regional teachers union maintains.