CEO of regional exams body says significant changes needed in education system

The top official at the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is calling for an education overhaul to create a system that is no longer elitist, that caters to the needs of every child, and stops condemning some students to a “life of doom”.

In fact, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of CXC Dr Wayne Wesley suggested that the current educational system across the region could be contributing significantly to the social ills facing society.

“Quality education will not be achieved if it is that every child is not afforded the opportunity to realise their fullest potential. We will only be talking if that does not happen. If it is that we want every child to recognise their fullest potential, then it needs [to] be that we create a system that accommodates every single child,” Wesley told a ceremony in St Kitts and Nevis at which the May/June 2023 CXC results were released on Thursday.

“It, therefore, begs the question, and we should ask ourselves, what would have caused a human being to be transformed from the cradle of love to the crucible of hate where governments across the region are currently challenged with social ills [and] a security budget that is ballooning because of the challenges we face?”

Wesley insisted that opportunities should be created for everyone, including “those who we consider requiring more attention, those who we consider to be gifted”.

“What are we doing with them? Because, perhaps, with what we are experiencing across the region, you don’t know if it is the gifted meeting with those at the lower end and coming together to create the kinds of challenges that we are facing,” he said.

The CXC official said the education system in the Caribbean needs to be transformed, moving away from the “failure approach where we speak more of what students have not achieved” and instead highlighting more of their achievements.

“If we move in that regard, then we will stop the propensity and inclination for us to be blaming aspects of the education system. We need to resist the urge [to blame] students, we need to resist the urge [to blame] parents, we need to resist the urge [to blame] teachers, we need to resist the urge [to blame] principals, we need to resist the urge [to blame] ministries of education, we need to resist the urge [to blame] ministers of education,” he contended.

“What we need to understand is that what has evolved over the years is a system that creates segregation and we need to break that system down – move away from creating an elitist movement to one that caters to every single child.

“We need to create that system and stop relegating our students and children to a life of doom. When we change what we are doing as a region and begin to put the resources where the resources should go, we will see improvement,” Wesley insisted.

His call comes as the Ministry of Education in Barbados continues consideration of education reforms, including replacing the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Exam (BSSEE), commonly referred to as the Common Entrance or 11-plus exam.

Wesley told the hybrid ceremony that CXC officials were also cognisant of the need for transformation within the regional examinations body.

“We are also playing our part to transform for greater regional impact,” he said.

“That transformation will see us repositioning ourselves by reimagining our philosophy, by creating multiple pathways for students to demonstrate their competence. We are rethinking our qualification framework where a competency, skills-based approach first is being contemplated, recognising competence as we go.”

Wesley said that in addition to the classical innovation, which includes the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), CXC was working towards “hybrid innovation and proxy innovation”.

He said the hybrid innovation included collaborative work with ministries of education to develop a curriculum that would work alongside national programmes.

“Our proxy approach will begin to recognise national programmes that are designed towards equipping students with the requisite skills and competencies, also working with countries’ national programmes through a quality assurance mechanism.

“In that context, we can do it and we must do it. It is urgent that we take that step to save our young people and present them with a future where they can see themselves being prosperous and attaining the highest level [of achievements],” the CXC CEO added.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb