Our certification is world class, says CXC

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has defended its reputation as a globally recognised institution, with its Director of Operations, Dr Nicole Manning, maintaining that it is fully accepted on par with international education standards.

Speaking exclusively to Barbados TODAY, Dr Manning highlighted CXC’s growing international credibility, while robustly defended its credentials.

Last week during a staff awards ceremony, chief executive officer and registrar, Dr Wayne Wesley, said that despite recent public criticism, rumours, or negative commentary, the staff of CXC remained committed and focused on delivering examinations with integrity, professionalism, and international credibility.

Dr Manning noted that recent engagements with overseas credential evaluators, including World Education Services (WES), have reinforced CXC’s standing.

“Now you know overseas credential evaluators like WES and so on are the ones receiving the qualifications, because our candidates go all over Europe, they are in Asia, they are in Africa, they are all over,” she stated.

“And recently in October when we had that session with them, we had about six different countries presenting, this is across the world, presenting how pleased they were with the qualification, with the students who are coming with the qualifications and to say more that they get exemptions.

“CSEC is a secondary examination so usually they take it for matriculation. The CAPE, however, gives some students exemptions and I’m not sure if you’re aware but we do have an associate degree. So if a candidate does a certain amount and certain types of CAPE units they can get an associate degree because they can major in the area. And as such, they will tell you that they actually get not only an exemption, or in some cases the number of years required to complete the degree shortens,” Dr Manning added.

She maintained that CXC certification was accepted worldwide and expressed confidence in the Council’s ongoing innovation and its impact on global recognition.

“So you do have universities abroad, outside, internationally that accept the qualifications as is and the candidates are only required to do two years just as if they were going to another higher education institution to do an associate degree. So there is no question that the examination is actually acceptable. There is no question about that,” Dr Manning said.

“I’m confident and it’s really something that I would want to encourage our Caribbean people to understand.”

Highlighting the value of CXC qualifications for Caribbean students aspiring to study at the world’s leading universities, Dr Manning added, “And so it is important for us to understand the value of what we have and I would encourage that we remember and understand our candidates go all over. If they can get into an Oxford, a Yale, a Harvard why wouldn’t it be valuable?”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb