Source: Jamaica Gleaner
More than 11 per cent of Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) candidates across the region did not submit their School-Based Assessments (SBAs) for the May-June 2022 sitting.
Some 25,967 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) students and 4,838 others who sat the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) failed to hand in the mandatory component to their teachers.
CXC Director of Operations Dr Nicole Manning said students who did not submit this component were marked ungraded for the respective subject.
Last year, 5.04 per cent of CAPE students were among the delinquent group and 5.02 per cent in the recent sitting.
“While a reduction over 2021, it still is a cause for concern because it’s far more than what we would’ve seen in the previous years – 2018, 2019, and 2020,” Manning said.
She was speaking at the official ceremony to release the results of the examinations in St Lucia on Monday.
In prior years, non-compliance averaged 3.4 per cent.
Likewise, there was a reduction among CSEC candidates, but the last two years represented the highest levels of non-compliance since 2018.
There were 31,270 (7.59 per cent) delinquent candidates in 2021 compared to 25,967 (6.42 per cent) in 2022.
“A whopping 25,967 is still something as an educational system across the region that we don’t want to see. One student left behind is one too many,” Manning said.
The director of operations said several extensions were provided to territories past the agreed submission time for SBAs.
CXC also reported an increase in the use of electronic testing by territories in the May-June 2022 sitting.
E-testing was used by 76 per cent more CAPE students this year, when compared to last year, while a 24 per cent increase in usage was reported among CSEC students.
Sixteen territories utilised the e-testing facility for 72 CAPE subjects and 20 territories for 35 CSEC subjects.
To combat Internet connectivity woes, candidates can sit e-tests fully online, partially online or fully offline.
As part of its digital transformation strategy, CXC will begin administering all Paper 01 examinations electronically in 2023.
Manning said training has been ongoing for ministry officials and chief invigilators.
“We did see challenges experienced with Internet access, power outages, and the incorrect version of the secure browser being downloaded, but none affected candidates negatively,” Manning said.
Meanwhile, 37 irregularities were reported among CSEC and CAPE students.
Of that number, between 80 to 90 per cent of students had their phones on their person.
As a practice, Manning urged school administrators to bar phones from examination rooms during school assessments.
Just over 170 hardship cases were reported among candidates, with family deaths and COVID-19 infections being among the reasons.
Manning said the candidates were not disadvantaged and were offered an assessed grade.
Hardship cases declined by 48 per cent from 330 in 2021 to 173 in 2022.
The director of operations said this is a signal that the region is recovering from COVID-19 and education is returning to normality.