Dr Bhoe Tewarie, left, director of the Institute of Critical Thinking, and Dr Didacus Jules, chief executive officer of CXC, sign an agreement to reform various CXC syllabuses at the Institute of Critical Thinking, UWI, St Augustine on Monday.

TRINIDAD GUARDIAN – The syllabuses of 11 Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) subjects are to be reformed drastically.

The decision was taken Monday at the Institute of Critical Thinking at UWI, St Augustine.

Institute director Dr Bhoe Tewarie and Dr Didacus Jules, chief executive officer of CXC, signed an agreement between the two regional education institutes, aimed at producing better students adept at critical thinking.

Jules said the collaboration was focused on executing a “paradigm shift from rote learning and regurgitation to real thinking.”

Jules said a main factor triggering the upcoming reforms was a call from society for the CXC systems to produce people capable of making meaningful contributions to society.

“Over the last ten years, regional ministries and also the private sector have been calling for a different type of output by examination boards.” He said companies were seeking thinking workers.

“Employers are saying they want people with a capacity to apply their knowledge.”

Tewarie, also Pro Vice-Chancellor of Planning and Development, noted that various UWI faculties and lecturers would be involved in the reform, to allow for easy transition into the tertiary education system and to get students thinking before they entered university.

“Critical thinking needs to start early, ideally in primary school, after pre-school exposure has instilled self-confidence as well as creativity in the child.”

He also noted that new teaching methods would have to be implemented, and that the process had already started with the School of Education at the UWI in Mona, Jamaica.

The pilot project, to be conducted over the next two years, would focus on the following subject areas: Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) level, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Integrated Science, Economics, Caribbean History, Geography, Social Studies, Principles of Business, and English A (Language) and B (Literature). The 11th area is Literature in English at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency (Cape) level.