STUDENTS will, from tomorrow, be able to access Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) syllabi, study guides, specimen papers and past papers online, thanks to a new licence agreement between the Caribbean Examination Council and the Web-based institution Caribbeanischool.com.

“A lot of schools are under pressure to improve their scores and not only on the number of passes, but also the quality of passes. It is our conviction and CXC’s conviction that people who access this material will improve not only their number of passes, but also the quality of their passes,” said Chris Stokes, founder of Caribbeanischool.com.

The documents on offer cover six years and are available in 10 subject areas – Information Technology, Mathematics, English Language, Principles of Business, Principles of Accounts, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History and Spanish.

Stokes noted that the CSEC syllabi will get students in the know about the requirements and topics to be covered, while the study guides will help them address deficiencies noted in standard textbooks. The specimen papers will provide students the opportunity to become familiar with the instructions, see how questions are structured and show the mark scheme. The past papers will give them the chance to practise.

Students, also as of tomorrow, will, too, be provided with Mathematics past paper video solutions for 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Meanwhile, also available on the site are Jamaica Observer study guides of which Stokes is very proud.

“Observer study guides are presented in multimedia format – sound, animation and text. That is the most dynamic site; when you are studying, you can take notes,” he told Career & Education.

Observer study guides are offered in five subject areas – Mathematics, English, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business and Information Technology.

Caribbeanischool.com was launched on January 30 last year at a cost of close to US$100,000 for the site infrastructure, according to Stokes. It is intended to provide students with a unique platform to aid their performance in exams.

“I decided that I wanted to work towards making the best quality educational material available to students so that whether you go to Campion (College) or to Tarrant (High), you are accessing the same quality learning material in one place,” Stokes said of his motives for establishing the site. “And when I spoke at the launch of the company, I spoke about the democratisation of quality education. So you find that a lot of our courses are quite affordable. In fact, for what you would pay for a one-hour tutorial or private class, you could have access to the site for the full month.”

Students are required to pay a US$30 monthly subscription fee and an additional US$10 per subject registered for. The $10 registration per subject is good for two years. The cost of an Jamaica Observer study guide is US$7.

Stokes noted that there was no questioning the value of what students got or that they were interested, given the up to 20,000 visits the site receives nearing exam times.

“It is interactive, it is comprehensive, it instructs, and it seeks to work with the different ways that people learn,” he told Career & Education.

Stokes added that they were now also looking to make it easier for students to make payments.

“One of the problems we had and which was holding up the growth is that we were taking mainly credit cards online, which was very difficult for many people. We are now in a position where any high school can become a payment agent. So they register with us as a payment agent, go on the site and activate the student,” he said.

Schools interested in making this option available to their students can call 908-4470 or e-mail info@caribbeanischool.com.