Fatima principal calls for review of CXC results

Fatima principal Fr Gregory Augustine has called for a review of the CXC marking system after something “went awry” and the school recorded a more than 20 per cent drop in its pass rate for English literature in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.

Augustine, speaking with reporters at the school’s annual prizegiving ceremony, said at the start of this term, principals had a meeting with the Education Ministry to raise concerns about the marking of the English literature exam and many other concerns. He said results were given late this year was because literature was delayed by a lack of markers. He said literature had been compulsory in Fatima for 20 years, with a pass rate of more than 90 per cent, but this year, the pass rate was about 70 per cent.

“This was the worst result we ever had.”

He said the situation was not peculiar to Fatima but had happened in several schools. He reported it and a number of parents made queries about the results but they came back the same. He said there was a meeting between the ministry and CXC on the issue and CXC was looking at a re-tallying exercise.

With CXC, he said, “As with all institutions, there are financial constraints, there are many changes and reviews taking place. We understand that. We are living in challenging economic times, not only in this country and the region but the world. And they are doing some adjustments and so on but we don’t want to compromise the integrity of the exam.”

In his remarks at the ceremony, he reported the results of 2017 reflected Fatima’s quest to improve performance yearly. He reported the school gained 13 national scholarships, six open and seven additional, and this was the largest number it had ever had. He reported that in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination Unit 1 there was a 99 per cent pass rate, and in Unit 2 a 95 per cent pass rate, with many boys obtaining ones in all their subjects. In CSEC there was a 90 per cent pass rate, down from 95 per cent in 2016, and this was because the English B literature papers were of “great concern.”

Education Minister Anthony Garcia, speaking with the media after the ceremony, said the registrar and the CEO of CXC came to the country and had discussions with the ministry on the concerns about the 2017 results.

Asked whether it was time to review the CXC marking system, Garcia said they were always under review and the ministry would be meeting with CXC to look at it.

“Because a lot of conerns have been expressed, especially with the e-marking, and we want to make sure that our students are not disadvantaged. That is the important thing for all of us.”

He said he did not believe the marks could be changed at this stage and asked parents of affected students to have faith, especially for children at schools like Fatima.