The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has come under fire for what some leading activists say is the exclusion of key education stakeholders from its recent Ministerial Summit in Grenada.
While describing the CXC-sponsored conference of education ministers as a welcome innovation with great potential, Coordinator for the Caribbean Coalition for Exam Redress Paula-Anne Moore and its Liaison Khaleel Kothdiwala are not pleased with the level of representation at the meeting, now in its second year.
“We continue to be concerned by the summit’s lack of representation and inclusion of what are supposedly key education stakeholders: students, teachers, parents,” Moore and Kothdiwala declared in a statement.
“Such lack of diversity of input diminishes the effectiveness of the summit. What does it say about the respect shown for us? CXC has long promised effective fora for parents and students for inclusion of decision-making, and improved communication, which was also recommended by the IRT Report of Oct 2020. This remains unachieved,” they contended.
Moore, who is also spokesperson for the Group of Concerned Parents in Barbados and Kothdiwala the student advocate, outlined a series of burning issues which they argued their constituents should have been afforded the opportunity to raise at the summit.
They identified such issues as the handling of the CXC exam process during the pandemic of 2020 – 2022, including the last-minute delay of the 2022 exams; late advice of broad topics, teacher-reported increase in errors in exam papers and the lack of adjustment in grading boundaries in recognition of the pandemic difficulties.
Reports of errors in grading, especially on CAPE Communication Studies and the decision to pursue the new e-testing during the pandemic in 2022, were also identified as areas of concern.
“The foregoing deficiencies are in sharp contrast to the recognition of the pandemic difficulties, specific help given to students and stated demonstration of care and concern for students provided by other international exam bodies such as Cambridge, International Baccalaureate and North American state and regional education bodies,” the activists said.
They contend that CXC’s regional governance structure’s lack of responsiveness to students’, parents’ and teachers’ concerns remain areas of concern.
Moore and Kothdiwala said their call since 2020 for improved accountability, quality assurance, communication and external independent regulation seems to have fallen on deaf regional ears.
“As a result, increased disillusion with, and lack of public confidence in the CXC examination process has and will result in increased privatisation of secondary school education, to our collective detriment,” they warned.
emannueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
