Gov’t to pay for CXC reviews

ON Sunday night, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley made a sudden announcement that the Government of Barbados will pay for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exam reviews of all the children who require them.

Mottley was speaking at the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Public Meeting in Market Hill, St. George where she addressed the contentious issue of the CXC exam results recently released across the Caribbean. There has been an outcry about the low grades received across the board and though there has been an Independent Review Team Report, there has been no waiver of fees for the review of exam scripts.

In fact, Prime Minister Mottley stated that she was aware of the fact that Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Santia Bradshaw, had formally made a request for the waiving of fees. However, with no response from CXC, Mottley made the announcement with the understanding that many of the parents who were asking for a review, could not afford to pay for it.

“Santia, I know that you have asked for a waiver and we have not heard back an answer, but Bajans do not beg. Therefore, tomorrow (Monday) you will tell them that the Government of Barbados will pay for the review of all the children who need a review in CXC,” declared Mottley.

The Prime Minister went on to say that what had happened to the children of the region was wrong and she was unsure what the findings of the independent report would be, but there was a need to step in to help those affected.

Mottley explained that when a government was run, things do not always go the way one would want and that you could not guarantee that people would always do the right thing.

“As I said when I was Attorney General and when I was Minister of Education, you cannot guarantee that people will always do the right thing, but you guarantee that when you find out about it, you would do the right thing when others have not done it. That is what leadership is about,” said the Prime Minister. (AS)