-CSEC students believe CXC’s decision necessary but will not reflect their true ability

By Navendra Seoraj

IT’S customary for persons to rejoice when things seem easier than normal, but students, who are preparing for the upcoming Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, should ‘refrain’ from rejoicing and instead place more focus on their studies, since the adjustments to the exams by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) should not be taken for granted.

In light of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which continues to plague Guyana and other parts of the world, CXC had made a policy decision to offer a modified examination process, that will award final grades to students based on their performance in method involving moderated School Based Assessments (SBAs) and multiple-choice papers.

Candidates will be required to complete additional components for modern languages, which include Spanish, French and Portuguese, as well as Human and Social Biology and Visual Arts. The council has proposed a revised schedule to administer examinations in July 2020.

While these adjustments might seem easier than the expected two-paper system, students have urged their colleagues to stay focused and ensure that they “put their best foot forward” in order to pass those exams. “I think the adjustments made for the CSEC examinations have both its pros and cons. On the positive side, since the nature of the examinations will be multiple-choice, there is no room for subjectivity and students can spend their time focusing on the answers given, than having to formulate their own answers,” said a fifth form student of the St. Rose’s High School, Hailie Caesar, in an invited comment, on Friday.

Although there is more time to focus on the answers before them, Caesar believes that the questions will be more challenging than usual and will not follow trends from previous years. In that regard, his view is that the probability of doing well has been decreased because students are writing one paper instead of two. “As such, I encourage my fellow colleagues to study hard and make the best out of the situation,” said Caesar.

Students believe the adjustments are necessary because of the current pandemic, but while the new format seems straightforward, it might be “much more difficult” and would not reflect entirely the abilities of the students.

“Evidently it (the adjustments) might seem as the right path to take as we are currently facing a pandemic and our health should definitely be our main priority, but I do feel as though the exams will be much more difficult and may not reflect my abilities entirely…Paper one doesn’t give me the opportunity to express myself fully,” said Rennata Alliyah Nickram, a CSEC student of the Bishops’ High School.

She believes it is “unfair” for her results to be based on just “alphabetical options” and not how she actually perceives or understands certain topics.
Another CSEC student, Saskia Butters of the St. Rose’s High School, spoke along the same line as Nickram and said, “Well I don’t think that it assesses all our skills. Anybody could easily bluff their way through a multiple-choice exam, but if it were a paper two they would have to know exactly how they arrived at their answers.”

LACK OF CREATIVITY
“The paper two allows for so much more creativity and putting things into your own words, the way you understand it. In a paper one you’re either right or you’re wrong,” said CSEC student of Queens College, Tatyana Ali. While some persons are concerned about the absence of creativity, other students enquired whether CXC would consider reimbursing a percentage of the amount they paid to write the examination.

“Will some of it be refunded since we’ll only be writing paper one?” asked, Aliea Reberio, a CSEC student of St. Stanislaus College. Although there has been no pronouncement to that effect, CXC has said, the new measures were implemented as a result of the effects that COVID-19 has been having on the Region.

“The council has proposed a revised examinations strategy to yield valid grades and minimise the disruption to the education system during these unprecedented times. This strategy will employ the e-Testing modality (online and offline) in order to reduce the examinations administration processing time resulting in the shortest turn-around time for marking and the release of examination results. This also minimises disruption to the 2020/2021 academic year,” said CXC in a statement.

The council, which falls under the aegis of CARICOM, administers CSEC and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) to secondary school students, annually, during the May/June period. “During the past two weeks, we have been monitoring developments across the CARICOM Region and working closely with representatives from the Ministries of Education and tertiary institutions to arrive at a regional consensus for the administration of May/June 2020 examinations,” said CXC.

The council cautioned that the proposed schedule of July 2020 will be contingent on national protocols across the Region.

“Rest assured that as the management and staff of the council continues to monitor the emerging situation, our first priority is the health and well-being of all our stakeholders,” the statement said. Guyana had recorded a record-breaking 77 per cent overall pass rate at the 2019 CSEC examinations.