Education ministry ‘will go to bat for disadvantaged’ CXC exam sitters

Education ministry ‘will go to bat for disadvantaged’ CXC exam sitters, lobby group says after talks

The Ministry of Education has declared it will represent the interests of “disadvantaged” students who sat the Caribbean Examination Council’s examinations, a lobby group for parents and students has reported after meeting with Minister Santia Bradshaw and senior civil servants over the weekend.

The meeting was “productive”, said Paula-Anne Moore, spokesperson for the Group of Concerned Parents, Barbados and the Caribbean Coalition for CXC Redress.

She said: “The Minister of Education and her Chief Education Officer [Ramona Archer-Bradshaw] listened, were receptive to the concerns of the national education stakeholders and committed to leading the national engagement with CXC to advocate for better communication, accountability and fairness for disadvantaged students re 2020 and 2021 CXC exams, as well as advocate for optimal earliest planning for 2022 exams.”

In a preliminary assessment of this year’s exam results, the group raised concerns of “subjects where grades are again significantly depressed, though nowhere near the widespread scale of 2020.

“There are some grades that are still outstanding, which the children were not aware would be further delayed. That adds to their stress, “ Moore said.

She added that they were particularly concerned about ”the emotional and mental effects of all the candidates, especially those adversely affected” if CXC fails to satisfactorily address their concerns.

Moore said: “The children are numb, demoralised. The anxiety resulting from the delay and manner in which the results were released was profound for many, on top of the 2020 – 2021 exams results and within the context of the prevailing pandemic conditions. What message are we sending, there is no point trying to excel? Are we demonstrating that we care for our children? What will be the effects on our children, our future: our national and regional growth and development? Brain flight?”

She said that parents and students are comforted that any grades reviewed by CXC will not be downgraded. A move which the stakeholders describe as a significant concession, they lobbied the Independent Review Team for and which was later adopted by the CXC.

The lobby group disclosed that it is gathering information both nationally and regionally to present a “fulsome comment” on the exam results.

At a regional press conference on October 15, CXC said students across the region performed reasonably well despite the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, prolonged activity at the Soufriere Hills volcano and various storms.

The group maintains that the regional examining body still needs to “improve its transparency, stakeholder engagement, communication and output of its exam product to ensure that we in the Caribbean  accord to international and modern best practice as it relates to school exit exams compared with other exam bodies and other education authorities worldwide”. (SD)