THE Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has extended the deadline for grades 10 and 11 students who wish to defer sitting their CXC (Caribbean Examination Council) exams this year.

All candidates will be required to indicate their intent for deferral by May 1, 2021.

“The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has prepared guidelines for those students who would like to defer the 2021 sitting of the CXC exams. These guidelines are to ensure that we manage the process efficiently, effectively and judiciously.

“In addition to the ministry bulletins that will be sent to our principals, we will arrange a virtual meeting with our principals as well to detail the process for application for deferral, the considerations or criteria for approval to defer, and we will also detail for our schools how we treat with the retained or deferred students,” said Education, Youth and Information Minister Fayval Williams at a post-Cabinet media brief Wednesday.

Following CXC’s approval of the exam schedule for this academic year, the minister further announced that the council would be sharing with education ministries across the region, the broad topics on which students will be assessed in the paper two exam. This will be communicated to students five weeks in advance of the start of exams.

CXC will be administering the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE), Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), and Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCLSC).

Exams will be scheduled during the period June to July 2021. CSEC and CAPE written exams will commence on June 14, and end on July 16, 2021.

Results will be made available to the ministries of education in the last week of September 2021.

CXC also indicated that all exams will be administered in their original format, a reversal on changes that were made last year which resulted in widespread dissatisfaction among students from across the region.

Addressing the issue of how students who choose to defer sitting their exams this year will be accommodated going forward, Minister Williams said that a framework to facilitate these students was already underway.

The minister also indicated the decision to have students defer was taken under great consideration by the Caribbean Community’s subcommittee — Council for Human and Social Development (COSAD).

“Based on all the consultations we did locally, based on the two meetings that we had on the subcommittee of Caricom, COSAD, looking at all the options that were presented, the pros and cons of the options, we have to say that this decision was the best that we, all of us as ministers of education across the region, our technical persons at the ministry here in Jamaica, consulting with our principals and all the other stakeholders, at this time, that is the best decision that we feel also will be in the best interest of our students.

“Last year, there were changes to the CSEC exam and you would have seen the results of that.

“Right now, CXC has not even completed going through all the requests for regrading of exams, and so, it was felt that we should not tamper with what has worked in the past. Let us continue with that original format.

“Yes, we could give more time for students to take it [exams]. [But] in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, we allow the option to defer if students feel they’re not ready. But again, given all the information that we had, we felt that, that was the best decision at this time,” said Minister Williams.

— Sharlene Hendricks