Gadsby-Dolly to CXC candidates: Trinidad and Tobago is very proud of you

Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly has said the country is very proud of all Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) candidates for completing their examinations during the ongoing covid19 pandemic.

She was speaking at a mural handover ceremony at the Ministry of Education in Port of Spain on Friday

“I want to say to all students and teachers who are very anxious today, we have to feel proud of our children. They have had a very stressful time.”

CXC’s Caribbean Secondary Entrance Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) results are scheduled to be issued to candidates on Friday at 6 pm.

Gadsby-Dolly said her daughter will also be receiving her results.

“(Students) have not been in the classroom for a very long time. They did not have the benefit of a mock exam.

“Everything was online, and I want to say to them we feel, as a country, very proud of you for making that step (and) for coming out and getting your exams done. It was important for us as country to ensure our students had this chance to go forward.”

Gadsby-Dolly also said the ministry met education stakeholders this week, including the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), principals, and denominational boards to discuss the physical reopening of schools for all vaccinated secondary school students.

“They have expressed their challenges in the last two weeks and have given their opinions on how we proceed, and how bringing out the lower forms will work for them logistically in terms of spacing and so on.

“As we know, there are different populations in the schools right now. We have more students in the denominational schools than in the government schools, but the principals’ associations of the government schools indicated they would have started at a certain level last week, but is has increased and keeps increasing as we go along.”

She said the ministry received stakeholder recommendations and will now look to configure the final policy on the possible introduction of lower forms 1-3 to the physical classroom.

Gadsby-Dolly said the ministry will release the results of TT’s overall performance in the coming days, as they are still awaiting information from CXC.