–Region’s most outstanding CAPE student urges CXC

CREDITING her success to the efforts made by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to advance its delivery of education, Atishta Seenarine, this year’s recipient of the Dennis Irvine Award for her achievement as the Most Outstanding Overall Student at the 2022 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), is calling on the examination body to expand its electronic testing platform.

Seenarine, of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School in Guyana, is also the Most Outstanding Overall Student in the Natural Sciences at the CAPE level, having secured 18 Grade Ones, and is currently pursuing studies in medicine at the University of Guyana.

The teen, along with several other Guyanese students, were honoured on Thursday for their exemplary performances at the 2022 CAPE and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

This year’s award ceremony was held in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), but Guyana and several other nations joined virtually.

Seenarine, shortly after collecting her awards, said: “I did a few of my exams; the Paper Ones. A few of the subjects, we did it electronically, and it was a good experience. So, definitely, I wouldn’t mind advocating for them to do more e-testing, and to take it to not only cover the Paper One but to the Paper Twos.”

According to the CXC, e-testing will allow learners to take their examinations on a computer or electronic device.

It said that the initiative is in keeping with the 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.

In her acceptance speech, Seenarine thanked her teachers, Guyana’s Ministry of Education, and the examining body for their efforts and dedication to introducing new educational systems to cushion the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I must commend the regional ministries of education and schools for representing the students at the relevant levels, and also CXC for understanding the situation and reacting appropriately,” the teen said, adding:

“Furthermore, I would like to applaud CXC for embarking on the path to e-testing. In experiencing the e-testing platform for a few Paper Ones, the interface proves to be very friendly. Therefore, I look forward to hearing more about e-testing in CXC and its administration of examinations, and modernisation plans as it concerns education delivery and syllabi content across all subject areas.”

Meanwhile, the teen urged students who are preparing to sit the examinations soon to “put your best foot forward”, while maintaining a healthy balance between their studies and their mental health.

“On my end, personally,” she said, “I would do different things to go away from the studies and …just have a different side apart from the studying. So, I would do things like painting, and I like to go on long drives, so those are the things that I would do.”

She added: “I think it helps a lot, because it helps you to just relax your mind after a while. And for me, when you relax your mind, and you go back to the studying, it really helps with getting your head back into focus.”

Meanwhile, CXC’s Chief Executive Officer and Registrar Dr. Wayne Wesley said that as the body celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is constantly working with education ministries to develop programmes that are relevant to the Region, so as to ensure the success of Caribbean nationals.

“You must know that we at the Caribbean Examinations Council are working assiduously at making sure that we create qualification and opportunities to all students exiting the secondary education system,” Dr. Wesley said.

The regional educator pointed out that there is much concern over the number of persons who are exiting the school system without qualifications.

Noting that the examining body is also working to address this anomaly, Dr. Wesley said: “We look with great determination and fierce urgency to ensure that we arrest the problem that is causing many of our young people not to realise their fullest potential.”

At the Council’s second annual ministerial summit in November 2022, CXC’s Professor Hilary Beckles said that although significant strides have been made in reforming the delivery of education across the English-speaking Caribbean, the enrolment of young people into tertiary institutions remains at its lowest.