Jamaica’s Education MInister appeals to Barbadian counterpart to press CXC to postpone this year’s exams

Authorities in Jamaica have appealed to Barbados’ Minister of Education Kay McConney, in her capacity as chairperson of CARICOM’s Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), for an urgent meeting in a final bid to get the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to postpone this year’s exams.

McConney’s Jamaican counterpart Fayval Williams said she sent correspondence last Friday seeking the meeting, after several appeals to CXC to delay the exams since January went unheeded. It also came a day after a CXC official told Barbados TODAY that the regional examinations body had no intention of changing the exam schedule.

“COHSOD is the last level in terms of calling attention to this problem,” said Williams who indicated that officials in Jamaica want to present a case, “as to why we believe the exam dates should be pushed back”, to the CARICOM body which is mandated to, among other things, promote the development of education through the efficient organisation of educational and training facilities, including elementary and advanced vocational training and technical facilities.

“We’re at a point now where we have to call an urgent meeting for this Council for Human and Social Development in order to help us to get some attention to our request.”

Echoing the arguments of teachers’ trade unions in Barbados, Williams insisted that the region’s students need more time to prepare, given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and preparation.

“We believe that our students in Jamaica and across the region have been significantly impacted, especially students who have their School-Based Assessment (SBA) work to do. They absolutely need more time, and so we will be advocating strenuously for this. Some of the other accommodations they made last year, we’re asking for those as well,” Jamaica’s Education Minister added.

Williams said while CXC has indicated that if students are not ready this year they can defer, “we do not believe that that is the only option that should be available for students”.

The Ministry of Education in Jamaica, in collaboration with the National Secondary Student’s Council, conducted a survey between February 23 and March 8 in which students were asked about their preparedness for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), both of which are scheduled to begin on May 2.

Of the 2 812 students surveyed, 1 754 of them expressed the need for additional time.

Last Thursday, CXC’s Public Relations and Marketing Officer Folayan Taitt said the 2022 exam schedule was determined following an agreement, at a meeting in December 2021, by representatives from participating governments.

She said there are multiple stakeholders with whom CXC has to consult and the published schedule for examinations reflects the best consensus attainable.

“An adjustment to the schedule would destabilise the regional consensus,” Taitt said.

Additionally, she said: “A delayed start to the examinations would negatively impact the date for the release of results, affecting candidates’ ability to meet the matriculation period for pursuing higher education at universities as well as scholarship application opportunities. In addition, it will compromise the commencement of the next academic year and thus perpetuate the disruptive impact on the education system.” (DP)