EDUCATION Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby- Dolly has spoken to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) regarding the issue of grades and is expecting a statement from CXC.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the minister stated, “I have personally spoken to CXC on the matter. It is causing distress, which is regrettable, especially for the students involved who are already stressed in this year of the pandemic.”
She added, “However, it is necessary to balance the desire for our students to be fairly treated with recognition of the fact that it is critical for queries of this nature to be dealt with through approved and well-defined channels if the integrity of the body that the majority of citizens in the Caribbean region use for certification is to be maintained. Certainly, many persons can and will sign an online petition once they disagree with an assigned grade.”
The petition circling the region can equate to over 300,000 subject entries between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago and the online regional petition gathering 12,000 signatures then, can be understood contextually, Gadsby-Dolly stated.
She stated, “Though no institution can reasonably use that as a basis for review of all grades- it does however raise awareness of the matter and indicate to CXC that this issue must be addressed to put to rest troubling questions and concerns that are shared across the region.”
Gadsby-Dolly stated, “On the issue of SBA scores, SBAs are scored by individual class teachers, and these scores are submitted to CXC for moderation- which means that what was submitted by the school may not be the actual score recorded by CXC for the student and used to determine their overall grade.
A statement by CXC is forthcoming, and we in T&T eagerly await their elucidation of the complex issues surrounding this matter, even as we advise schools and individuals to follow the established procedures to make the necessary queries. The MOE will take all required steps to ensure that this issue is adequately addressed.”
