#BTColumn – Caribbean Examination Council in review

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Ralph Jemmott

Like many Caribbean teachers, I had my reservations about the change from the Cambridge Examinations Syndicate to the Caribbean Examinations Council in 1974.

One prominent and vocal West Indian nationalist opposed the change because her son was about to sit the Cambridge O’ levels when the change came about. Progressive and ideologically Left leaning as she was, she wanted her son to take the highly recognised Cambridge exams.

Given her avowed radicalism, I was shocked by her opposition to CXC. Even as a ‘confused colonial,’ as I was once called, I came
to recognise that the CXC was a legitimate part of the process of decolonisation, of the process of moving away from the cherished metropolitan paradigm.

Growing up can be hard, but we have to grow up some time. It is for the same reason that I now support the idea of Republican status for Barbados.

Very early the Caribbean Examinations Council claimed that its exams were superior to the Cambridge tests they replaced. To some extent that was quite true.

By the way, Cambridge Ordinary and Advanced levels have come under severe criticism in England over the years. Thus the burden of this piece is that we should review and reform CXC not throw it out like the proverbial baby with the proverbial bath water. A return to Cambridge exams would constitute a retrograde step.

I have had some direct knowledge of two CXC subjects, the CSEC Caribbean History and the CAPE Caribbean Studies. As an examining mechanism, the CSEC History course was pedagogically superior to the Cambridge test it replaced.

The Cambridge test required only four essay question to be answered in 2 ½ hours and the questions were fairly predictable. It was said that Sir Alexander Hoyos, History Master at the Lodge could predict the topics with considerable accuracy.

The CSEC History required a multiple choice Paper 1, usually 60 questions to be done in an hour. Paper 2 was the usual four essays to be done in the exam room in the same 2 1/2 hour period as done at Cambridge.

In addition there was an SBA course work component. Initially each student was required to do twelve SBA’s over the two year period covering fourth and fifth forms. From the start teachers complained that twelve SBA’s per candidate constituted an unnecessary burden on both teachers and students.

What they asked was tested in twelve SBA’s that could not be tested in six?

However it would take over a decade before CXC in its wisdom, would reduce the number to nine. At that time every single SBA
had to be sent to CXC for scrutiny in packages of twelve.

Later the examining body would require only a sample of five of the batch of twelve, later changed to nine. All marks had to be written into a Course Work book, correctly tallied and sent to CXC by a given date. Compared to Cambridge, CXC had increased the teacher’s work load exponentially.

Teachers teaching a CXC class could lose their Easter Vacation spent marking SBA scripts, filling out the CW books and literally rounding up the SBA’s from delinquent students who for one reason or another had failed or were failing to complete assignments on time.

No teacher wanted to send in the CW book with an SBA marked “ungraded”, simply because the student has not submitted the required essay or essays.

Getting delinquent students to complete course work could be a cause of considerable anxiety for teachers. I once saw a student writing an SBA in the school office, under teacher supervision, on the day on which the Course Work book was due to be submitted to the Ministry of Education.

I have consistently expressed my distrust of the SBA component of the CXC Syllabi. As the work load increased, students were prone either to plagiarise and to get inordinate outside help in completing the assignments.

This would become more of a problem when CAPE was introduced. An SBA should reflect the student’s cognition not someone else’s. It was not always possible for a teacher to certify that a student had excessive help in doing a course work assignment.

The student would have to be afforded the benefit of the doubt except in cases of obvious and extensive plagiarism. I would suggest that the SBA component never exceed more than 20 percent of the total marks.

I am told that the highly respected International Baccalaureate does not allow for course work done out of school. Scholastic integrity should be at the heart of all academic pursuits from Common Entrance to Ph.D.

I cannot speak for other subject disciplines, particularly the exact Sciences, but in Caribbean History the CSEC remains a good choice.

I would require that half of the SBA component be done in school, in say, a double period with or without the use of texts and other reading materials, but without external assistance. Next: The CAPE crusader. CAPE replaces the Cambridge A’ levels.                              

Ralph Jemmott is a retired educator.