Why is sitting CSEC, CAPE exams in July an issue?
Dear Editor,
What is the real fuss about the scheduling of the Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) papers in July all about?
I am a little befuddled on this issue, and here’s why.
The syllabus for exams is spread over one or two years, beginning essentially in grade 10, and continues in grade 11. By February to March most if not all schools engage in mock exams and revision begins in middle or the end of March to April of each year. This is the blueprint used for preparing our students for exams.
CSEC begins in April usually with art, the languages, and physical education; this is not new or news, check it.
Now schools signed out due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13, 2020, which means the syllabus should have been finished or almost done. Therefore, students should have been ready then. Their December end-of-term tests should have been in exam format and questions taken from past papers in preparation for exams.
CAPE exams are two-tiered, units 1 and 2, one for each upper and lower sixth forms or grades 12 and 13. These are the only groups that may have some issues. Therefore, the vast majority doing CSEC subjects should not be so down and out as the picture is painted.
In my view, shifted up or down in July should not pose a problem for our students who should have been sufficiently taught for two academic years beginning in September 2018 to March 2020, inclusive of extra classes in the summer.
This year, due to the pandemic, the examinations are scheduled for July, which has given all students a bonus three extra months to get ready. Additionally, the exams have been adjusted mostly to omitting Paper 2; therefore, students will only be graded from doing the multiple choice paper and submitted school-based assessment (SBA) projects, as I understand it. Normally, Paper 2 addresses heavy content, so if it is omitted now and our students still can’t pass or are unable to tackle a multiple-choice paper after studying for two years, we have a serious problem.
Sandra Currie
Kingston 10
Sandra.Currie@utech.edu.jm
