Delay, simplify CXC exams – UNICEF
Published:Tuesday | May 25, 2021 | 12:16 AM
The Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) initial plan to press ahead with the June sitting for its flagship examinations has faced backlash by the powerful United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The international organisation is urging the council to delay the start of the external examinations by three weeks and to simplify the content and methodology - a move against which CXC has bristled.
CXC has been resisting pressure from teacher lobby groups across the Caribbean that have been clamouring for an easier exam to be set this year than in previous editions because student preparation has been hamstrung by displacement caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Amid recent excoriation, CXC announced on Saturday that it would, by Wednesday, declare its final decision on the 2021 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
Backing proposals by the Caribbean Union of Teachers, UNICEF added its voice to the debate on Monday, arguing that COVID-19 containment measures have further exacerbated the gaps in preparedness among the most disadvantaged students. It warned that there was a higher risk of the most vulnerable students never sitting the exams.
“If the exams were to be implemented as decided, our main concern is the low level of preparedness (academically and psychologically) of many of the thousands of 16-18-year-old students across the region to sit the exams,” UNICEF said in a statement issued with the blessing of its office covering Jamaica, Belize, Guyana, Suriname, and the Eastern Caribbean.
UNICEF said it wants ministers of education across the Caribbean Community to lobby CXC to adjust the sittings of CAPE and CSEC exams.
Paper One, it proposes, should only test rationalised topics that are tested in Paper Two and not the entire syllabi.
For Paper Two, UNICEF wants CXC to remove all compulsory questions.
Further, UNICEF wants the ministers to offset any financial costs for deferral to 2022.
Candidates had up to May 14 to file a deferral application.
UNICEF said the ministers should also confirm placement in schools for children who defer sitting exit exams to next year.