Hiccup on first day of CXC exams

Students at a secondary school in Arima, which was being used as a Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) examination centre, were turned away from sitting their exams on Monday morning as they had mistakenly downloaded the 2020 examination centre listing instead of the 2021 listing.

Speaking anonymously to Newsday, the students said they were told they were not registered to take the exam at that location. Upon closer examination, it was discovered that the students had the wrong schedule.

The list details the area, centre name (school), and centre number and could be found on the Ministry of Education’s website, however, a general search for examination centres would bring up last year’s listing, which can also be found on the ministry’s website.

The first six digits of the candidate number indicates which centre the student must go to take the exam.

Private candidates began early CXC examinations on Monday, with Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English A.

Not all students, however, had a negative experience. Students leaving a Port of Spain examination centre said the exam went well.

Newsday also received a report from a parent whose daughter had Spanish oral exam at a centre located in the East who said they witnessed students being turned away on Wednesday last week because the centre was not ready to receive students.

He said he found the distribution of information on exam locations and dates to be a bit confusing. “The amount of stress I had to go through simply to find the date…It was total confusion.”

He said initial information provided on the Ministry of Education’s website indicated CSEC Spanish orals would be held between January 11 and 14.

He said after four or five emails to the ministry, he received a reply which narrowed down the exam dates to January 13 and 14.

He said because he was unsure of how the exam would go, he told his daughter to prepare for the two days and ensured that she got to the centre early. Seating for the exam is at 8.30 and they arrived at 8.15.

He said when they arrived, she was the sixth student to come in. He said parents and students at the centre were advised by an unnamed exam coordinator that the exam room was not yet prepared, which caused a bit of a delay.

He said she addressed parents and students again, and advised the security, that only 18 of the 40 students registered to sit the exam at that venue would be allowed in.

He said parents overheard different things from the woman while they waited. He said they heard her say the other students would have to come back on Thursday, then a bit later, she was heard saying the additional students would be allowed to come in the afternoon.

Calls to the school went unanswered on Monday.

When asked on Wednesday if students were being turned away because they could not be accommodated due to covid19 protocols not being in place, Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said this is not so.

"No candidate is denied the opportunity to sit examinations because of covid9 protocols. At all our examination centres candidates are accommodated with full compliance with the measures stipulated to mitigate the spread of covid19."

Students on Monday at two other Port of Spain locations said no one at their centre was turned away. One student, Aqyila Parris, said the exam went well and she was quite happy with the covid19 regulations in place at the centre. She said she felt safe and comfortable with the idea of the physical reopening of schools.