CXC completes 93% of CAPE reviews for Guyana

…as printing of CSEC, CAPE certificates suspended amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has finalized 93% of the 526 subject reviews tendered by Guyanese students for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), the Ministry of Education announced on Monday.

The Education Ministry, in a statement, explained that the reviews are being conducted for 209 CAPE candidates from Guyana. “The remaining thirty-three (33) subject reviews are currently being processed. One hundred and forty-five (145) grade changes were recorded while three hundred forty-eight (348) received no changes to their grades,” the Ministry further disclosed.
In 2020, students with backing from their schools had demanded a review of their grades on the basis that there were major discrepancies in the grades assigned by CXC.

The review process consisted of the requested reviews in addition to what the Council considered ‘border line’ cases. Three hundred and eleven (311) subject entries were positively affected for CAPE.
Some 853 candidates from the 10 secondary schools and five private centres wrote the May/June 2020 CAPE. According to the Ministry, Candidates offered units in 35 subject areas.
Meanwhile, CXC has released a memorandum notifying the Caribbean Region of its decision to suspend the printing of certificates as a result of developments as it relates to the spread of COVD-19 in Barbados, where its headquarter is located.

“As a result of these precautionary measures, CXC has announced that the printing of the July/August 2020 candidate certificates has been suspended until restrictions are lifted in the country. Candidates that have urgent requests, can submit a request for a printed preliminary slip from CXC’s Western Zone Office in Jamaica. That request can be emailed to cxcwzo@cxc.org,” the Education Ministry said in a separate statement on Monday.
In 2020, 12,009 students took the CSEC examinations, which were administered in July-August due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and consisted of only Paper 1 and SBA for school candidates, and Paper 1 and Paper 3/2 for private candidates. Students wrote a total of 35 subjects.
As in the case of CAPE, candidates from Guyana like other Caribbean countries, demanded that their grades be reviewed.

“In processing the reviews, the Council further considered borderline cases, for which six thousand two hundred fifty-one (6251) subject entries were positively affected. A total of one thousand two hundred fifty-eight (1258) subject reviews were submitted for CSEC by five hundred (500) candidates of which approximately 90% have been completed and one hundred twenty-eight (128) are currently being processed. Grade changes were awarded to four hundred fifty-six (456) grade reviews while six hundred seventy-four (674) grades remained the same,” the Education Ministry explained. It said that a check of the pending reviews showed a number of candidates could receive review changes that may likely affect the list of candidates with the highest number of Grade Ones.