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Speaking at the event, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand said it is interesting to see the changes to the examinations itself, as well as how Guyana has been receiving and adapting to those changes.
Manickchand said Guyana is pleased to join the other Caribbean countries in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the council.
She pointed out that when the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examination (CSEC) was first written in 1979, five subject areas were offered; and now, more than 30 subject areas are being offered.
Manickchand said that, at that time, just over 5000 persons in Guyana wrote the examination, but now there are more than 13,000 persons sitting the exam, which sees the country submitting more candidates than ever before.
Because Guyana is trying very hard to move towards the achievement of universal secondary education, she said, the country is increasingly seeing successful efforts being made in this regard, and there will be even more students sitting the examination.
The Education Ministry would continue to partner with other sectors to make sure that Guyana’s children all across the country could access quality education. This, she said, would not only see the country submitting more candidates for exams like CSEC, but would also see Guyana continuing the trend of topping the Caribbean every year.
She pointed out that, over the past few years, the top students of the examination have all come from Guyana, and over the last year, the country also produced top performers in several subject areas. Manickchand noted that the country is able to do this because its education system supports the children.
She indicated that because of the equity across the education system, the ministry can no longer map where the top students are coming from. She made reference to the top student of last year’s CSEC examination, Sarah Hakh from Abram Zuil Secondary School, who not only topped the country with her 16 grade ones, but also topped the entire Caribbean.
Manickchand said that while she expects to see disagreements within the education sector, at the end of the day, what they should all be working for is to make sure Guyana’s children receive the kind of quality education that educators put their minds to deliver.
In the receipt of that education, she said, the children need to be supported in order to make them into productive adults who could develop Guyana, a goal that can be achieved with a focused, strategic approach.
Also speaking at the event, Senior Assistant Registrar of CXC, Ms. Susan Giles, said Guyana has shown a lot of faith in CXC, and commitment to its programmes.
She pointed out that Guyana was one of the first countries to sign on to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in 1998, and one of the few territories which haven’t seen contraction in CAPE entries.
Ms. Giles said Guyana’s candidates excel in CXC examinations, including the CSEC exam in which the country has, over the past several years, copped the top prize.
She asserted that establishment of cxc was a major event, none more so than in the Caribbean, which places a high premium on educational achievement, and where regional governments spend significant sums annually on education services.
According to her, on January 11, 1973, the inaugural meeting of the CXC was held in Barbados, and it took a further six years of meticulous and painstaking foundation building and systems’ designing before the first CSEC examination was offered.
At that time, she said, over 30,000 candidates from 13 participating territories sat the examination, and forty years later, just under 6.5 million Caribbean citizens from 19 territories have participated in the examination.
Ms. Giles noted that the road has not been easy; there have been significant challenges, including the challenge of acceptance by their own people and that for recognition by the international community.
She that there was also the challenge to develop syllabuses that are accurate, relevant and appropriate, and that ensures that the Caribbean’s students are exposed to a knowledge pool that is rapidly changing in acknowledge-based societies.
Ms. Giles said that as the achievements of the council are celebrated, it is recognized that most of them would not have been achieved without the hardworking staff and high quality leadership they’ve had from the very beginning.
Those persons, she said, include the committed teachers throughout the region, who take time to participate in the myriad of activities, and the support of regional governments.
Cultural performances at the celebratory event included choral renditions from students of Queen’s College, the Success Elementary School, a dance from a student of the Beterverwagting Secondary School and from students of the Genesis Early Childhood Education Centre, and Steel pan renditions from students of the North Ruimveldt Secondary School.
While the CSEC and CAPE examinations are the most popular examinations offered by CXC, the council also offers the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC), and the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) examinations.
Photos stored in graphics> Caribbean exams council 40 anniversary
