A lack of adequate consultation; overlooking the regional digital divide; and the social, educational, and psychological implications of a new examination system are all part of what is known among the local teaching fraternity as the “CXC Fiasco”.
President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Mary Redman, highlighted this during her remarks at the Caribbean Coalition for CXC 2020 Redress virtual press conference yesterday.
In her presentation, Redman gave a brief overview of the role of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), underlining the originally beneficial and co-operative relationship between teachers and the regional entity and the eventual changes that transformed the Council from altruistic underpinnings to “big business”.
“This has been to the detriment of those who work both at the teaching and learning ends of the spectrum or continuum,” said Redman.
On March 26, 2020, Redman said that CXC held a press conference to announce changes to the 2020 examinations. She explained that the BSTU wrote immediately to the Ministry of Education, copying the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT), outlining their concerns. She added that regional unions were notified and they also expressed agreement about the new developments from CXC.
Timing of exams a concern
Redman noted that teachers were concerned about the timing of the examinations. She explained that CXC was not taking into consideration the effect of the digital divide in the region. The union head said that many students would have challenges due to a lack of connectivity or a lack of electronic devices (computers, laptops).
The removal of paper two which would assist with testing the knowledge of the students, and the structure of the examination were also major concerns for teachers. With an unchanged multiple-choice paper, the teachers expressed their shock at this announcement. She noted there were unanswered questions about the weighting of the examination paper.
Redman also noted that CXC was not addressing the need for training of teachers and students in the online platform in the teaching-learning process or the impact of the various stages of the shutdown along with the volume of work teachers were able to complete or not complete during this period. The social and psychological effects on teachers and students due to the pandemic were also a concern for the BSTU president.
Redman questions experience of CXC markers
The BSTU president said that it was suggested by the CXC Registrar that teachers were inflating the grades of the students on School-Based Assessments (SBAs). Earlier in her presentation, Redman noted that in an effort for CXC not to accept any culpability in the ongoing matter, she highlighted the outcomes of the review report and the statements of the Registrar and said these comments demeaned and demonised the teachers within her profession.
Redman countered the suggestion, questioning the experience and qualifications of the persons who are marking the SBAs for CXC as a possible reason for the disparity of grading of school teachers and CXC markers. In her closing remarks, the BSTU president asked several questions about the internal process of the SBA marking at CXC and how it could have led to 10,000 requests for review from regional students.