Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Dr Wayne Wesley says the three percentage point increase in the number of students who have received five subjects or more, including mathematics and English, in the 2025 CSEC examinations “is a good sign”.

“Last year I pointed to the fact that five subjects is what is used as a standard to determine those students who can matriculate to university or seek employment — five subjects, including mathematics and English. Last year I reported that 41 per cent of those students who wrote five subjects or more actually achieved five subjects, including maths and English. I’m delighted to say this year that that number has moved forward to 44 per cent,” Dr Wesley said Friday at the official ceremony to mark the release of the May/June 2025 CSEC results in the Cayman Islands.

“That is significant, because every time a child leaves school without maths or English they suffer underemployment and they suffer from not being able to matriculate. So the fact that that number has moved by three per cent is a good sign,” the CXC boss said.

“That means we’re moving in the right direction and it also means that more persons are doing better than before, and we need to continue on that trend,” he said and commended member states that have been implementing strategies to drive literacy and numeracy.

“It is bearing fruit. Of course, we have not reached where we want to reach, but certainly the indicators are moving in the right direction. So whatever you’re doing, continue to do it; because it is bearing fruit. And with the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC) coming on, it will, in the future, create more opportunities for students to demonstrate that they have achieved the standard which we set for them,” he pointed out.

“Now it is important because, for the CTEC, we have developed and modularised the English syllabus and the maths syllabus in three modules and those new syllabuses will be placed in the school system come September,” Wesley said.

The CXC head said starting this September, CXC will embark on the pilot for the CTEC format with 3,000 students across the region who will write the new test come May-June next year.

“Right across the region, 3,000 students across all member states, as a pilot to make sure what we are doing we learn from, it because we believe in research to inform proper policy decision-making and this pilot will provide us with the requisite information for us to better that product as we roll it out across the region,” he said.

According to Wesley, while those 3,000 students will be participating in the pilot, the entire education system will be exposed to the new modularised mathematics and English syllabus in September.

“We have already started the training of teachers in that regard, and we are continuing to ensure that that development continues because we recognise that every student must be given the opportunity to realise their full potential. No one should be left behind. And it is our responsibility to create that environment that will allow a child, regardless of where they are, regardless of their social status, regardless of their social class, you should have access to quality, relevant education that will allow you to become productive citizens of society, and CXC will not rest until we have created the necessary environment for our students to learn,” he emphasised.

CTEC, the new qualification unveiled by CXC in April this year, will be at the same standard of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and will utilise the same syllabus. It will be focused on related and relevant learning outcomes, as well as provide for the progressive achievement of competencies and will be non-terminal.

Elaborating on the new qualification in April this year, Wesley said: “The approaches to CTEC will be subject-based, where the assessment is based on qualifications embedded in the syllabus, or the skills-based assessment, where assessment will be based on competencies achieved through real-life scenarios. So a lot more flexibility will be available to students in achieving and demonstrating the competencies acquired.

“This will add a greater level of flexibility to the teaching/learning and assessment process, because now a student who, for some reason, has to leave school can re-engage the system, based on what module you have already completed, so you don’t have to start the entire syllabus over,” he said then.