The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) yesterday released official timetables for the upcoming Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) assessments.
The timetables, available on the CXC website at https://www.cxc.org/download-timetables/, show that the CSEC exams will be held from July 13th to August 4th, while CAPE will start on July 13th and end on July 31st.
These exams are expected to be written using one of three options which the council decided on in April: A fully-online exam where students are connected to the exam portal for the duration of the test; partially-online exams; and offline exams where students will be given a paper-based exam, which the exam invigilator will manually upload.
The CXC officials explained that by using CXC electronic testing (E-Testing), learners will be able to take their CXC examinations using a computer or electronic device. This initiative is in keeping with CXC’s commitment to “observe global quality standards in the delivery of examination services and deliver enhanced learner experiences through the consistent use of technology.”
CXC said that the Ministry of Education for each country will determine the centres that will be used for exams, as well as the best exam mode for each centre. It emphasised that students would not be able to sit exams at home.
However, when Stabroek News contacted the Ministry of Education’s Public Relations Officer Murtland Haley, he informed this newspaper that no information aside from the release of the timetables has been relayed to him. Haley had previously said that senior ministry officials were regularly meeting about decisions the ministry intends to take as it relates to CXC exams.
The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has publicly urged that the examinations be postponed, while some students have also voiced concern about the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on their preparations.
Following the release of the timetables, 16-year-old Akim John, who will be sitting the CSEC examinations in July, voiced her concerns about the sitting of the exams during the outbreak of COVID-19. “I honestly think that CSEC exams should be postponed until the global pandemic is over. In 1918, there was an outbreak of a similar disease (the Spanish Influenza) which lasted 15 months. We have no idea how long the outbreak of the new coronavirus disease will last. It started since last year December and it’s only getting worse. The number of cases and deaths are rising in the Caribbean. It makes no sense to risk our lives to write an exam. I haven’t gone to school since March. It’s June,” she related. “Online classes are good but not good enough to prepare us for CSEC… I’m totally lost. I basically spent so much money on an exam I’m totally unprepared for. I understand that they are trying to put safety measures in place but prevention is better than cure and I think it should be postponed until this is over. Students are stressed and unprepared,” the teen said.
