BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - DESPITE concerns surrounding the COVID-19 still in the air and that most territories across the region grappling with the fallout in the education sector, the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) announced that this year’s Exams would be held in June and July.
Those Exams, CAPE, CXC and CCSLC, will use the previous moderations that were in place prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic - those being Papers One, Two, Three and the School-Based Assessments.
Providing details of this year’s Examinations at the end of the two-day meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), Chair Minister of Education for The Bahamas, Jeffrey Lloyd informed that following consultations with the regional ministries there were five options laid out for the administration of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination and the Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examinations.
He noted that based on those examinations, COHSOD agreed that CAPE, CXC and CCSLC should be administered in their original formats.
Additionally, Lloyd confirmed that it agreed that results would be provided to the Minister of Education by the last week in September 2021; and an extension was granted for students who want to defer their sitting of the Examinations by May 1, 2020
The Bahamian Minister revealed that due to the loss of contact time, CXC would share with the Ministry of Education topics to be assessed on Paper Two prior to the start of the Examination.
The region examination body has adopted a strategy with the University of the West Indies that will see students interested in joining for the 2021/2022 Semester year being allowed to use their CAPE first-year results.
CXC's Registrar, Dr. Wayne Wesley announced that the sharing of topics would be done five weeks prior to the start of the Examination for Paper Two on May 10.
He however noted that “it must be said and indicated that all candidates must be reminded that all topics are covered in Paper One for all subjects”.
In the area of the School-Based Assessment, Dr. Wesley informed that CXC has reduced the assessment requirements to as much as 50 percent in some instances.
