Minister: At least 10 schools query results

EDUCATION Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said at least ten schools have submitted queries to the ministry over results of the 2020 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results.

Speaking with Newsday in a telephone interview, she reported she and other regional education ministers met with the CXC Registrar at 12.45 pm Friday and the meeting went until after 2 pm.

“We (ministers) have been advised that if there are issues related to entire schools, including grades being significantly lower across subjects and students receiving ungraded, then (the ministries) can directly reach out to CXC and they will give information based on those particular issues. And if any adjustments need to be made that will be done.”

She said CXC’s position was based on the average grades over the years there was no significant dip in acceptable grades (there was actually an increase) and therefore there was no decision to waive fees for individual requests, nor for a full review of all results.

Gadsby-Dolly reported the ministry did its own analysis and there was no significant difference between the grades from 2019 compared to 2020. She said there was a small increase in Grades 1 and 2 for CSEC and for CAPE there was a slight decrease in Grades 1 but an increase in Grades 2 and 3. She added, therefore, the local results supplied by CXC mirrored what CXC presented for the entire region.

She said the ministry has received ten letters from schools querying certain things (namely ungraded and schools with entire subject grades being lower than expected) and the ministry will be reaching out to principals to find out if there are any more queries.

She reported the ministry wrote to CXC Friday expressing concern over the widespread disenchantment with results (based on the letters and what was happening in social media and not actual data) and by next week they will be writing based on the queries from the schools. She added some schools were sending in queries about the under performance of students and this information will be transmitted as well.

Gadsby-Dolly said the ministry will be requesting from CXC access to moderated SBA results, which is normally given after the October 23 query period, as this appeared to be the major factor that caused grades to be “unpredictable.” The ministry will also be asking for details on the calculation of the final exam.

“We will focus on drilling deep enough to make it clear students were treated as fairly as possible.” She said students were experiencing a kind of distress that is unprecedented and noted a Guyanese student tried to committing suicide. “We are not taking it lightly. And we are forwarding our concerns.”

She said it is a difficult time for many students who anticipated having better grades. “I want to assure them we understand the level of distress by some, and the ministry is doing everything within its power to assure any redress possible is given to students, if it is applicable. They can be assured of that.”

St Mary’s College principal Nigel De Freitas has written to parents expressing concern over the “unprecedented” CAPE results and CSEC results as well. “It is our view that these results, in no way, reflect a true indication of our students’ performance and we intend to issue correspondence to both CXC and the (ministry) to this effect.”

TT Unified Teachers Association vice president Kyrla Robinson-Thomas said TTUTA was concerned from reports received by teachers. She added TTUTA will be be seeking information from the ministry when they meet with officials on Monday on what is being done to alleviate the students’ stress.