CXC commences under stringent COVID-19 measures

They washed their hands, got their temperatures tested, and with a squirt of hand sanitizers the first batch of CSEC and CAPE students took their seats and wrote their exams, as the regional examinations began last Monday, in Guyana and across the Caribbean.

In Guyana, 11998 students across 168 centres are scheduled to write the 2020 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) while another 851 students across 15 centres are set to write the 2020 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Many of the students were excited and relieved to finally get the exams over with given the two months postponement that ensued after the rise of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the Caribbean since early March. “Now that it’s finally here all the nerves is just coming back, and you’re anxious but you just have to replace that nervousness with excitement and do your best,” commented Bishop’s High Lower Six student Sheresse Melville as she arrived at school to write her sociology examinations.

On Monday, the examinations opened with foreign languages for the CSEC students, while the CAPE students sat exams in foreign languages in addition to exams in Sociology, Management of Business and Arts and Design. The CSEC examinations in various subject areas will run until 4 August when it ends with the Paper 1 for Integrated Science and Food, Nutrition and Health. The CAPE will end on 31 July, with exams in a number of subject areas including Entrepreneurship, Law and Physics.

The Guyanese students are among 30,000 students across the Caribbean region that are writing the exams this year. Though customarily written annually in May/June, earlier this year the 2020 examinations were postponed by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), as the body assessed the spread and risk factors of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean region.

In March, many countries, including Guyana, began putting measures in place, including the closure of schools, to avert the spread of the virus. In May, CXC announced that the examinations would officially go on in July, using a modified format of the examinations. Though students are usually assessed and assigned grades based on their performance in multiple choice Paper 1, along with structured questions Paper 2 and School Based Assessments (SBA); this year the examinations were modified to assign grades based on Paper 1 and SBAs.

With the confirmation that the regional examinations would go on, several measures were implemented by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to protect the students as much as possible against the spread of the virus, including the complete sanitization of all schools. On Monday, when the students got to the classrooms, they found themselves seated at quite the distance from the closest fellow student, as the examinations began under stringent COVID-19 guidelines.

The two examinations (CSEC and CAPE) are being written under guidelines set out in the gazette and published examination order No 73/2020. During this period, also as part of the COVID-19 measures, only respective students and teachers are allowed to enter school compound, while each person upon entering were subjected to standard sanitizing measures.

The teachers and students would’ve so far gotten used to the measures by now, as the students have been returning to school since 15 June to study with their teachers at school.

Minister of Education Nicolette Henry, met with the students via a virtual Zoom meeting, last Monday, and took the opportunity to thank the students for persevering through the trying circumstances, and urging them to do their best as they go through their examinations. “Minister Henry underscored the importance of the exams and reminded the students that they (CSEC and CAPE) will determine students’ future course of action and for many of the students their career choice,” a statement from the MoE said.