The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) on Wednesday announced that it has postponed all upcoming examinations by two weeks, after being engaged in “regional consultations”.
“Council approved the delay of the sitting of the regional examinations by a further two weeks. This will provide candidates with extra time to prepare for the examinations. Results will be released in the last week in September to the first week in October as previously communicated,” said Dr. Wayne Wesley, CXC Registrar as he reported on the Council meeting on Tuesday.
He told reporters that after careful deliberation and consideration of all the pertinent issues, the council, which is made up of the governments of the region, also agreed that the administration of all papers will be maintained.
The Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), and Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) examinations which were scheduled to commence on June 15, have now been pushed back to Thursday, June 28.
“CXC will administer CAPE, CSEC and CCSLC examinations in their original format. That is, for CAPE and CSEC, papers one and two and paper 3(1), the School-Based Assessment (SBA) or paper 3(2) for private candidates. For CCSLC, papers one and two,” Wesley said.”
Earlier this week, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urged CXC to delay the start of the external examinations by three weeks and to simplify the content and methodology.
In a statement, UNICEF said that it is “concerned over the decision” by CXC to maintain the upcoming CSEC and CAPE for students as currently designed.
“UNICEF is calling on CXC and the Ministers of Education to make adjustments to the content and administration of these exams, in line with recommendations provided by the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) to ensure that the region’s school students are not further disadvantaged.”
Students all across the Caribbean now have until May 31 to defer sitting the 2021 examination. In addition, the deadline for candidates to register their intent to defer has been extended to May 31, and SBA submissions have also been extended to June 30
CMC
 on Wednesday announced that it has postponed all upcoming examinations by two weeks.){kind=link}