Trinidad and Tobago performs well in 2020 CXC exams

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said she is pleased with TT’s representation on the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) merit list for 2020.

She said despite the new challenges the students faced last year, they overcame the obstacles through hard work and perseverance.

“They were able to turn around all those challenges and still perform a at a level that get regional acclaim. It is common for us to be and to feature well on these merit lists and we are very proud.”

Gadsby-Dolly said the accomplishments were achieved not only by the students by also by their teachers and parents who had to adapt to mechanisms of teaching and learning.

“We understand the level of challenge that they faced, and we have another cohort about to go into the examinations who may have an even more challenging time because they have been out of the classroom longer.

“I want to thank their parents and teachers for putting out the effort to make our country proud and restoring hope because this accomplishment proved that that our students are resilient. We see their ability to shine.”

The student merit list identifies the top students in the entire Caribbean in each subject offered at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). The students chosen for each subject were selected based on their attainment of a grade one or distinction with an outstanding description in all papers written for that subject area. TT was represented in all subject areas attempted.

Naparima Girls’ College had top placements in biology, chemistry and english A; ASJA Girls’ College San Fernando topped mathematics; Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College and St Augustine Girls’ performed well in social studies. Other schools such as Naparima Boys’ College, Presentation College Chaguanas, Holy Name Convent, Holy Faith Convent and Fatima College also captured spots in these subject areas.

In an effort to manoeuvre around covid19 pandemic and successfully administer the CSEC examination. Many questions were raised about fair grading, marking schemes and modified protocols.

Many students across the Caribbean protested unfair grading and requested queries from the regional body.

Moving forward for 2021, CXC said in April there would be amendments in the administration to the School-Based Assessments (SBAs) and shared the broad topics to be assessed on paper two for CSEC considering the many challenges faced by students across the region. There is also a possibility that exams scheduled to begin in early June can be pushed back by three weeks.