CXC CONCERN

HEAD OF PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION SAYS REPEATED BREACHES PUT EXAM BODY UNDER MICROSCOPE

By Emmanuel Joseph

As the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) declared on Thursday that exams would go ahead as scheduled despite the theft of a cabinet containing test papers, the association representing principals in Barbados expressed concern that the regional body’s reputation is now at risk.

And a parent/student advocate has suggested that an external regulator should be hired to overhaul CXC’s governance structure.
Concern over the future of CXC was raised by president of the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools (BAPPSS) Stephen Jackman, following the revelation by the council a day before that a secured fire-proof cabinet containing papers of nine subjects scheduled to be administered this week was stolen from a school in Jamaica.

The incident came on the heels of the leaking of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics Paper 2 at an exams centre in the same country last month.

“I am concerned that we are seeing so many breaches and I would hope that things are going to be put in place, like it is already done in Barbados, to secure these papers and to secure this exam. I don’t know why it seems that after 40-plus years, we want to destroy the goose that has laid the golden egg,” Jackman told Barbados TODAY.

On Thursday, the Barbados-headquartered CXC said in a statement that there was no confirmation that the stolen cabinet “has been compromised”, and following consultations with regional Ministries of Education earlier in the day, a decision was made to administer the exams as planned.
“CXC reassures candidates that their best interests continue to be at the centre of the organisation’s decisions and processes and wishes all candidates well in their examinations.

“As the police continue their investigations in Jamaica, CXC and Ministry officials from across the region will continue to monitor the security of the regional examinations,” it said.

However, the BAPPSS head said these repeated breaches not only place CXC’s globally-recognised reputation in jeopardy but put the educational future of students at risk, especially since CSEC “is just a stepping stone to other things”.

Jackman suggested that the solution to the security breaches may be found in the CXC’s planned introduction of electronic papers.

“CXC has a timetable for moving to all electronic papers and I would hope that the governments of the region are moving to put things in place so we can have the security of those electronic papers,” said the principal of the Frederick Smith Secondary School.

Reacting to CXC’s statement on Thursday about its decision to go ahead with its exam schedule as planned, coordinator of the Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados and the Caribbean Coalition for Exam Redress Paula-Anne Moore said it raised more questions than answers.

She called on the examinations body to provide “rapid” answers regarding the efficacy of its security protocols.

“CXC assured the public that the security protocols had been revisited and strengthened after the last serious exam security breach less than a month ago. There have been several security breaches over the past several years. We still await advice on the revised grading methodology for Maths CSEC. This uncertainty is not fair on the students, and the memory of the 2020 grading challenges is still fresh,” Moore told Barbados TODAY.

The parent/student advocate also called for an independent external regulator to be hired to overhaul the governance structure of CXC.

“The evidence is clear. Grading, accountability, governance, quality assurance, security, and communications with stakeholders – all major aspects of operations – need to be reviewed, both within CXC’s operations and the other stakeholder institutions who administer exams, by an expert independent external regulator,” she suggested.

Meanwhile, Moore commended CXC for not putting the students through the additional stress of an altered exam schedule.

“We are grateful that the children are not subjected to further stress of exam resits and grateful for the swift response and decision-making by the CARICOM

Ministers of Education and CXC regarding this latest exam crisis,” she said.

On Wednesday, president of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell expressed concern about the latest exam breach and called for an overhaul of CXC’s protocols and procedures.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb