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Contact:
Primus Hutchinson
Monday, May 12, 2003 - After thirty years of existence, the Caribbean
Examination Council, CXC, is being described as an image and symbol of Caribbean
pride. The CXC, established in 1973 embraced an overall objective of developing
syllabi and provides certification, not only to meet the needs of the region but
has also stood up to international scrutiny.
Public Relations Officer with the Caribbean Examination Council, Sam Cleaveland
says Caribbean people are very proud of CXC as a CARICOM product. Cleaveland
indicated that those who hold CXC certification have gone on to excel and as a
result can be seen as genuine products of CXC over the years. According to
Cleaveland, the CXC Syllabus Development Unit, based in Jamaica, conducts a
significant amount of research, having to provide for 16 participating
territories that incidentally also play a role in providing guidance as to the
subjects that are more relevant to the needs of these territories.
Cleaveland stated that the CXC unit is being both proactive and responsive to
the needs of its clients. According to the PRO, the unit is open to suggestions
from any member state regarding a particular subject that CXC may not be
offering currently but is relevant to the needs of that member state. Cleaveland
added that at the higher level , meaning the CARICOM Ministers of Education,
from time to time has also suggested to CXC, to look into developing particular
subjects relevant for member states.
Registrar of CXC, Dr. Lucy Stewart says, they have taken into consideration the
many concerns expressed by teachers regarding the quantum of work that students
must undertake for the School Base Assessment, the SBA component of CXC.
According to Dr. Stewart, in many cases, the work load has been reduced.
“ History is one example that comes to mind, where we’ve reduced a number of
assignments that students had to do to a fewer assignments or a project. We must
remember too, that no progressive examination body will allow a student’s
evaluation to rest on one final exam. The student can be ill, something can
happen and the student can’t take the examination on that day and therefore
teachers’ assessment is also important. Also the examination body is really
interacting with the student only at a particular time; the teacher is
interacting with the student over at least two years.” Stewart said.
The CXC team of Dr. Lucy Stewart, Registrar and Public Relations Officer, Sam
Cleaveland visited St. Lucia last week in observance of CXC’s thirtieth
anniversary.
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