Education Ministry says delay in reviewed grades from CXC cause hold-up in scholarship announcement

There is growing frustration among some of this country’s teenagers about the Ministry of Education’s delay in announcing this year’s Barbados Scholarship and Exhibition winners.

However, Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw has disclosed that local officials are awaiting a promised review of grades from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) before proceeding.

In a statement entitled Whither the 2021 Barbados Scholarship and Exhibition Awards?, a group calling itself Justice for CAPE Students criticised the Ministry of Education for its lack of communication since its release of a statement on October 20. In that statement, the Ministry said it had engaged CXC for a review — since the grades that some students received were not in alignment with expected grades — and the reviewed grades would be issued the following week, after which the announcement of scholarship winners would be made.

The group’s statement said both students and parents were now “in the dark” about the cause of the further delay.

“This is unacceptable, especially coming after the fiasco associated with the 2020 CXC CAPE examination results which disadvantaged many of the region’s children aspiring to gain a scholarship to study at the university of their choice,” it said.

“What is going on? We were told ‘gimme yuh vote and watch muh!’ We are watching. It has been eight weeks and counting since CXC released the results of the 2021 examination and the list of the awardees for this year’s scholarship and exhibition winners are yet to be announced.”

When asked to respond to the students’ concerns, Dr Archer-Bradshaw maintained that the Ministry had been consulting with CXC about the grades.

Through meetings with the Council, which included the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools (BAPPSS), the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), the Barbados National Parent-Teachers Association (BNPTA), the Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados and student advocates, they were able to demand reviews of the grades.

“For the first time, the Ministry of Education and stakeholders engaged CXC on matters of concern relating to examinations. We used the meeting to ventilate a number of issues. A second meeting was convened on Monday,  November 22, 2021 and it was indicated that after initial review the CXC would make adjustments to some of the grades that were previously issued and it was said at the time that the reviewed grades were subject to final approval,” Dr Archer-Bradshaw told Barbados TODAY.

“At this meeting, CXC assured the Ministry of Education that the reviewed grades would be issued the following week. However, there was a delay in the issuing of reviewed grades by CXC. So the Ministry will make the announcement of the Barbados scholarship and exhibition winners as soon as it receives the requisite information,” the Chief Education Officer added.

The Justice for CAPE students group is, however, concerned that the situation is looking similar to the 2020 controversy that resulted in region-wide protests and legal action against the CXC.

“The Ministry of Education offered little or no publicly known serious support to hold CXC to account, except for offering to cover the costs for students seeking a review of their results. It was left to parents to seek the necessary answers regarding the performance of their children,” the group’s statement recalled.

“The discrepancies were widespread across the Caribbean and carry serious implications for the future of our students who have strived to achieve excellence and who depend on the award of a scholarship to pursue university education in their chosen field.

“However, our leaders and some educators have not treated this issue with the attention that it deserves and the response to this unjust situation has been muted. This callous treatment of our young people for a second year is inexcusable and certainly not consistent with a caring government,” the group declared.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb