Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 26, 2020 (SKNIS): During his address to the nation on May 25, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, the Honourable Shawn Richards, stated that CXC examinations will be administered in July 2020.
“This decision arose out of a meeting of OECS Ministers of Education who endorsed taking a unified approach to regional examinations,” said Deputy Prime Minister Richards. “Further, at a meeting of the CARICOM Ministers of Education, support was given to CXC examinations being held in July 2020. CXC made a policy decision on 26th March, 2020, to offer a modified approach for the regular May/June examinations of 2020. In this modified approach, there would be only two components by which the students’ final grades would be determined. The components are: Paper I (a Multiple-Choice Assessment), and School Based Assessments (SBA’s), and Paper 032s (alternative to SBA’s) for private candidates.”
The Minister of Education stated that this means that students’ overall grades for CSEC and CAPE would be determined from two instead of three assessment components. “This means that the SBA component would now be carrying a heavier weight than in previous years,” he said.
The Education Minister stated that it is important to note that unlike previous years, CXC has requested 100 percent submission of SBAs and IAs – “that is, the submission of all SBAs and IAs for candidates.”
“This is necessary because of the modified approach being used where there will be no Paper 2s and only Paper 1s for almost all subject areas,” he said.
Considering the policy decision to offer a modified approach to assessment, the Ministry of Education must act in the best interest of students registered for CXC CSEC and CAPE exams, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
“To this end, we at the Ministry of Education are currently working with the National Taskforce on COVID – 19 towards the issuance of a special provision which would allow students currently registered to sit CSEC and CAPE examinations to receive direct teacher instruction to supplement current virtual education modalities being utilized towards exam preparation,” he said.
“The proposed education provision for students sitting CXC examinations is being made to support the completion of SBA’s and practical components, which are required elements of the modified CXC examination approach,” he added.
The Deputy Prime Minister stated the proposed special provision for limited use of educational facilities for instruction, therefore, will apply only to students identified by their institutions for supplemental exam preparation support.
“Thus, only students sitting overseas exams will be allowed access to schools and for the sole purposes of completing SBAs or IAs and other examination requirements. Beyond this provisional use of schools, I must reiterate that all educational institutions in St. Kitts and Nevis will remain closed for regular instruction until further notice,” said the Minister of Education.