Students: Hurricane, after pandemic harming CXC prep

Scores of students sitting the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) examinations this year have claimed that the passage of Hurricane Elsa has affected their ability to study for the exams.

In a social media survey by The Voice of the Students group between Tuesday and Wednesday, over 94 percent of the 156 fourth, fifth and sixth formers who participated indicated that the lack of electricity in their homes caused by islandwide power outages since last weekend significantly affected their ability to prepare.

While CXC examinations were held this week, 57 per cent of the participants indicated that they were still being affected by the impact of the hurricane which has hindered their ability to study, while 42 per cent said they did not have an issue with studying for the upcoming examinations.

The informal survey also found that almost 68 per cent of the participants are not confident that they will pass their examinations after a stressful year of having to battle the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Elsa.

The student founder of The Voice of the Students who spoke to Barbados TODAY on condition of anonymity said they were not surprised that many students were unable to study during the extended power outage because the majority of students were unable to access the total of a year’s notes they have stored in online documents.

Students have been learning in new environments in the past year and are stressed at this time, they added.

The founder also indicated that students are also not pleased with the public’s response towards a student who in an article openly questioned the Ministry of Education’s decision to send CXC students to sit examinations on June 30 during a tropical wave.

They said students have noted that readers who commented on the story referred to students sitting the exams as ungrateful for not wanting to leave home during a thunderstorm.

In the survey, several students mentioned how they felt about the comments made by the public. Students said those who have referred to them as ungrateful are inconsiderate, appear to be bitter, and do not care about their future.

One student wrote: “Look, half of those that are talking children are clearly adults already or ain’t doing CXCs yet. Ya’ll realize a thunderstorm means a storm could be coming. Would y’all want ya’ll child at a school in a storm away from you? Save me the foolishness.”

Another student said: “They have never understood the lockdown and the migration from face-to-face to online teaching and learning. I’m not unable to process information easily over a computer, and the screens four to six hours a day don’t help that stress. The older generation never had to do this transition and should not speak on subjects highly that they haven’t experienced.

“Many children struggle with this change and some have adapted, but not all. Most of the older generation only speaks about the matter instead of imagining that they must prepare for six to 12 CSEC [Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate] or four plus CAPE [Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations], which are the grades that represent basically students’ futures.”

The students also vented their frustration about CXC’s decision to go ahead with the examinations this year despite all that has happened in recent months. Students asked what else would it take for CXC to see that the examinations are too much for the students of Barbados and the other Caribbean islands.

A student said: “A pandemic and several lives lost. No time for grieving because you have to study for upcoming exams. [There have been] multiple shutdowns or lockdowns, volcanic ash, suicides and a hurricane.

“What else will it take for CXC to realize that now is not the time for exams, it is too much, and for people and parents to see that CXC does not care about us students? Us students were put in a rigged system, a system in which the majority of students were set up to fail. CXC does not care and if the head of the system does not care, why should we?”
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)