Dear Editor,
I am quite appalled at the news from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) that some students who accessed the results of the CSEC and CAPE examinations online tampered with their grades.
While I commend the council for finally catching up with the technological advances, some basic security measures should have been put in place to make these documents less interactive. Students should only have been able to view their grades, period. The IT department and other executives of the CXC should take some responsibility for these breaches, and immediately remedy the situation or shut down the site until this can be done.
What these students did should not be condoned by anyone, and if parents are aware of this, they should turn them in to the appropriate authorities. I agree wholeheartedly with Education Minister Gopeesingh of Trinidad and Tobago that this is a criminal act and that these students should be dealt with condignly.
Editor, this is just another sad episode reflecting the moral degradation and deteriorating ethical and social values that have infected some of our youths, spreading worldwide like toxic fumes.
As parents, grandparents, teachers and other elders in our communities, we need to reignite the old African proverb which states, “It takes a village to raise a child” and not only lead them by our words of what is right and wrong, but more so, by our actions.
Finally, hearty congratulations to all our children who excelled in this year’s CSEC and CAPE examinations!
Yours faithfully,
Mavis Lawrence
