Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to Dr Wayne Wesley, registrar and CEO of Caribbean Examinations Council, and Fayval Williams, minister of education, Jamaica:

We wish to register our complaint and are requesting a review of the recently reported results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations based on the following:

1. Internal assessment or school-based assessments and predicted grades are incomparable as they significantly differ from those obtained by students. Example: Two students who worked in the same group, received the same internal assessment and predicted grade were granted grades one and four, respectively.

2. Students who have been awarded straight “A” profiles have been assigned grade six.

3. Students who sat the exam have been graded “Ungraded or Absent”.

4. The charge of US$30 to review each subject, keeping in mind that the errors were no fault of the student but the discrepancy brought about by the system.

Undoubtedly there are severe inconsistencies in the grading of CAPE and CSEC 2020 papers which have negatively impacted the lives of some of the cohort who throughout the academic year have been considered by teachers to be exceptional. It is to be noted that some students have been awarded scholarships from overseas and regional institutions and were put on a waiting list, but due to the CAPE results have now been denied.

We are extremely disappointed about this outcome having been assured that the examinations would have been fairly held during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Moreover, we are not a group of delinquents making an irrational stance against the prestigious Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), we are hard-working students seeking justice. We only want to advocate for the accurate allocation of our grades. We look forward to hearing from you.

Imani Pryce

#OurGradesMatter spokesperson

ourgradesmatter@gmail.com