– CSEC, CAPE to begin July 13

DESPITE the concerns of some regional educators, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has forged ahead with the release of its examination dates, and has set the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) to begin on 13, July 2020.

This will see students sitting the exams via e-Testing modality or using the paper-based modality in territories where the infrastructure challenges are insurmountable. According to Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry, CSEC and CAPE candidates in Guyana will be taking these tests via the paper-based method. CSEC exams will run from July 13 – August 4 while CAPE will run from July 13 – 31. Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) will be facilitated from June 25-26 and Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) from August 5-7. Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) audits will commence in July 2020 and CXC is working towards results in the first week of September 2020.

In a simple statement on the Council’s social media page on Monday, it stated: “CXC wishes to advise the public that after extensive consultations with stakeholders, the Council has released the final timetables for the full suite of examinations this summer.”

Bilateral discussions have been had with CXC, Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) – Education and Jamaica after the country’s government said in May that it could not commit to holding the exams in July. However, these discussions saw the Caribbean country conceding to the date.

The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) had also expressed its disapproval of the time frame, making it clear that students hadn’t yet completed their School Based Assessment (SBA) / Internal Assessment (IA) due to the abrupt closure of schools. Since then, the deadline for SBA’s has been extended until June 30.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT), based in St. Lucia, described the July proposal as “unfortunate and reckless” stating that the health and safety of thousands of students and teachers will be put at risk.

In Guyana, the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) said that it is also concerned about the health and safety of its teachers and students even as the country has recorded 153 cases of the virus, 71 of which were active as of May 31.
Guyanese CSEC students are also concerned about the exam dates and told the newspaper two weeks ago that they believe the Administration must fully consider the challenges faced by developing countries.

Though the concerns expressed are not identical to all Guyanese educators or candidates, the fact remains that the exam dates have seemingly been set in stone. The first CSEC exams on the morning of July 13 are French 3 (General); Portuguese 3 (General); Spanish 3 (General) and Music 2 (General). French, Portuguese and Spanish Oral Examinations (Paper 3) in each territory will be conducted during the period 13 July – 21 August. Meanwhile, the Practical Examination in Music (Paper 2) in each territory will be conducted during the period 13 July – 28 July.

CAPE will also begin with French Units 1 and 2 Paper 4; Spanish Units 1 and 2 Paper 4 and the commencement of oral examinations. For CCSLC, English Language and Spanish will be held on August 5; Mathematics and Social Studies will be held on August 6 and Integrated Science and French will be held on August 7.

The full timetables for each can be accessed at: https://www.cxc.org/examinations/ccslc/timetables/

The Council has been promoting live webinar series on its Facebook page for parents and candidates to get themselves au fait with the e-Testing modality. The Guyana Chronicle is unaware of the number of persons who would have accessed the online sessions.