Dear Editor,

I read with interest your August 26 editorial and the related news item on the CXC mathematics examination.

I think it is OK for a tutor or teacher of mathematics to comment on the difficulty of the examinations without giving much thought to the meaning of the statement. However, an editorial should provide much more information when commenting, to allow the reader to better understand the facts used to arrive at their conclusions.

The responsibilities of the CXC as an examining body are:

* Producing a syllabus which outlines the areas which will be tested and stating the objectives

* Writing an examination based on the syllabus

* Marking the scripts

* Publishing the results and the associated statistics, reports and recommendations.

All of the above are done in collaboration with our teachers throughout the region. The content of the syllabus is decided on by a panel of experts which includes teacher representatives. Teachers send their comments and recommendations to this panel. Hence, the content will change from time to time. The examination can only be written using objectives that are in the syllabus.

An examination is supposed to test what we teach. Teachers will therefore teach according to the objectives in the syllabus (although it is recommended that the curriculum that the teacher uses should be wider than the syllabus in order to enhance understanding). The examination set in 2010 would not necessarily test the objectives set in 1980. A student being prepared for an examination in 2010 would be prepared based on the objectives of the syllabus and not based on the candidate’s age or grade in school. There will always be items on the paper which can be attempted successfully by students of all ages in the high school, because of the nature of mathematics. It is a cumulative subject. Whatever you learnt in basic school provides the basis of what you will learn at the university level.

If we feel that the examination is being watered down, we should use a comparison of the objectives to arrive at that conclusion. If we feel that it is too easy, then we should compare items written on the same objective with that on this paper.

I would like to state clearly that I am not commenting on the quality of the examination, whether it is too easy or whether it is a poor examination.

Cynthia P Cooke

cookelp@cwjamaica.com