Advocacy group anxiously awaits CXC results

The Caribbean Coalition for Exam Redress is hoping for a significant improvement in the quality of grades from the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) as thousands of students in Barbados and neighbouring islands await the release of scores from the regional examining body.

In a statement released on Wednesday, it said that like many students, teachers and parents, it was “anxiously” awaiting the results expected to be published on Monday, given the challenges associated with CXC’s grading system over the last two years.

The group said it did not want a repeat of what happened previously, noting that it was already noticing some recurring issues such as errors on the examination papers, challenges with the Barbados E-testing system and lack of engagement from CXC.

“We note the . . . challenges experienced by these children, reported to the Ministries of Education and CXC, and hope CXC lives up to its commitment that grading has been adjusted to reflect the disadvantages experienced by the affected students,” the statement said.

Last year and in 2020, scores of students across the region along with their parents and various interest groups protested the grades released by the examining body as many high achievers received low marks.

Wednesday’s statement indicated that while the group was thankful for the three-week delay in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination as requested, priority should have been given to students in upper sixth form who had applied to universities here, regionally and internationally.

“We appreciate that there are competing needs and what is beneficial for one group of students might be less so for another group, but find it disappointing that there was no communication on any offer to help the Upper Six students by selecting and marking their papers first so their results could be issued prior to the rest of the papers,” it said.

“A display of this student-centred flexibility, responsiveness and consideration, or at the very least a public dialogue in this connection, would been important ‘damage control’ which Prime Minister Mia Mottley stated in October 2020 was essential to mend the damage to public trust and confidence in CXC inflicted by its last two years’ grading performance, including its lack of public communication and accountability.”

The coalition said that the confidence of the students who sat this year’s exams was “shaken” because of what they saw played out over the years, adding that dialogue from CXC would have helped calm them and showed that the examining body was being accountable.

“Again, there was inadequate public commitment by CXC to alleviate the anxiety of negatively affected students that grading would be adjusted so they would not be disadvantaged by errors in exam questions, and/or e-testing problems . . . ,” it added.

The interest group also reiterated its call for an independent external regulating body to be established so CXC’s integrity could be maintained.

“This would ensure that its management and product offering accords with international best practice. Former Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw endorsed in 2021 our nearly three-year-long call for such regulation, unique amongst CARICOM [Caribbean Community] Ministers . . . .

“If the fundamental challenges regarding CXC’s governance, quality assurance, stakeholder engagement, and communication are not addressed urgently, parental and student confidence will be irreparably damaged, leading to negative consequences, including the acceleration of privatisation of CARICOM secondary school education,” the statement said. (SZB)