[UPDATED] CXC scraps Paper II after Jamaica leak - MATH NOT 'MATHSING'

CXC registrar Wayne Wesley during a conference at the Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain in April 2022. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale
CXC registrar Wayne Wesley during a conference at the Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain in April 2022. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

THOUSANDS of students across the Caribbean are being affected as the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) announced that the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Math Paper II will be scrapped following a leak of the paper before the exam was held on Monday.

Instead, marks from the Paper I exam – which is yet to held – and marks from Paper III (school-based assessments – SBAs) will be used to determine a students’ overall grade for this subject for 2023.

In the CSEC system, Paper II is the longer theory paper, Paper I is the multiple-choice question paper, and Paper III is the school-based assessment, which comprises projects which are marked by teachers and the grades sent to CXC.

CXC registrar Wayne Wesley made the announcement during a virtual media conference on Friday, following a statement on Wednesday which pointed out that the examination body was investigating claims of a leak.

“CXC, in consultation with regional ministries of education, realised that students would have spent months preparing for their Math Paper II exam. The news of the security breach of the examination has caused much anxiety and concern," Wesley said.

As a result of the compromise of the exam; consideration of the mental health and well-being of students; and timely release of results along with matriculation requirements, CXC came up with the alternative method of determining students' overall grade for Math and communicated this to regional education ministries.

He said CXC considered setting a second paper, but given considerations of mental health, etc., as well as the logistics of when and how to administer that exam, it was decided just to scrap the examine which students had already sat.

Wesley claimed CXC has a robust in-house quality assurance system that reviews all grades and ensures they reflect the competency and ability of students as demonstrated during the school year.

“The nature of the exam remains the same, as all three papers are reflective of the syllabus coverage, especially the multiple-choice paper over the 60 questions. Our SBAs would give another dimension, with problem-solving and other competency skills.

"Because we have used it in the past and it has worked, we are confident we are still able to offer valid grades to students. It is crucial we pay attention to competencies exhibited by students in those two papers.”

LEAK IN JAMAICA

Wesley said the leak was traced to a particular examination centre in Jamaica.

He said following discussions with Jamaica’s education ministry, the matter would be dealt with according to CXC’s security protocols.

“Based on multiple information sources available to us, we were able to pinpoint the origin of the leak. Any breach of security of our examinations, and its impact on the integrity of our processes, would be of great concern to us.

"And we would have taken those breaches and leaks seriously and acted with the kind of urgency needed in this situation. We are working with the ministry on dealing with the situation, and we have not named any particular individual. We have not called in the police, but this is an option still open to us.”

He said Paper I is under extreme and greater security following the breach. Addressing queries that leaks seem to be a regular occurrence, Wesley said, “We would have been enhancing our security provisions over the years and would have been executing on some of those by conducting audits of our regional exam apparatus within member states to ensure the requisite mechanisms and systems are in place.

"We would have updated our protocols in certain things and rethought our custody management protocols. But you would appreciate with the greatest of systems in place, it is still dependent on humans executing and the integrity of these people entrusted with the systems, or who would have access to the systems.

"We can’t legislate morality. I can’t say what the motive is behind the leak other than due to the nature of high-stake exams, people would want to get ahead. I can’t say if any money changed hands.”

He said the paper would have spread through many countries in the region through social media and WhatsApp, and a more thorough investigation needs to be done to determine the number of countries where people had access to that paper.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said she attended the meeting with CXC on Friday, along with her regional ministerial colleagues, to discuss the findings of the investigation and the way forward.

She said the School Support Services Division of her ministry is ready and willing to support any student who was affected mentally by the scrapping of the Math Paper II exam.

IT'S VERY UNFAIR

Several teachers, parents, and students who spoke to Newsday on Friday, said they found CXC's decision to be grossly unfair. The students said they felt they were being punished for something they had no control over.

One student said she was now demotivated about doing the rest of her exams, while another said she was of two minds about the issue.

“On one hand, I'm happy that they are scrapping it, but on the other hand, I'm a bit upset because I know students spent the past year or two working very hard towards Papers II and III and it's like all the late nights, lessons, breakdowns...everything was for nothing," the student said.

Another student noted that many students did not feel confident about how they did in Paper II this year, so those may be relieved that it was scrapped.

“It’s bitter-sweet. I feel like more people are going to do really well on the Paper I so I think that means it’s going to be harder to get a Grade I. If you do well in both the SBA and Paper I, you might still get a Grade 2 unless you get total in both the SBA and the multiple-choice.

Several parents shared the view that the decision was unfair, as students would have spent years preparing for the exam, starting from when they entered high school.

One parent said CXC was already a very anxious time for students.

“I’m very disappointed there was even a leak. They need to narrow down and find the people responsible and severe penalties should follow. They have a tendency to say, 'we’re investigating', but they need to let us know what’s the end result. It can’t be that we just move on.”

She said there were students who would have made up extra points in the Paper II, where they got points for parts of answers, because they might not have performed well in their SBAs or weren’t sure about Paper I where it's a straight case of the answer either being correct or wrong.

“It’s a stressful situation all around, even for the parents who would have spent hours preparing, and it’s very unfortunate for the children who would have put in weeks and months of preparation for what they considered the major part of the examination."

A math teacher at a secondary school said the approach being used was unfair in that it did not give a genuine reflection of the students’ competence in the subject.

“The SBAs are usually group projects, not usually individual projects, and as with all groups, there are those who don’t ever pull their weight but will get the same grade.

"Also, they usually produce drafts which are handed in, marked, and re-marked, so they have a chance to produce their best work. The children also tend to do pretty well in the multiple-choice even when they guess.

"The proposed alternative is not a true reflection of the child’s capability, especially if you want someone who’s competent in a workplace that uses math as part of its operations.”

Tutor Kavita Gosine said students would have been studying five years for the exam, including past papers and topics.

“It’s a lot to have gone through and especially because they actually wrote the exam, which was long and stressful, and now to have it scrapped...they would feels like it was all for nought.”

In 2020, when a similar system was first introduced, following a leak which originated in Trinidad, there were protests across the region, with people saying the system was unfair.

There were also protests about erroneous grades.

Editor's Note: This is an update to an earlier story posted to our online handles and which can be read below:

CXC registrar Wayne Wesley said the CSEC Mathematics Paper 2 will be scrapped following a leak of the paper on Wednesday. He said students will be assessed on Paper 1 and the school-based assessment (Paper 3(2).

Speaking at a media conference on Friday, he said the leak in the CSEC Mathematics Paper 2 has been traced to a centre in Jamaica. He said the Education Ministry in that country had been notified and steps were being taken to deal with the matter.

He said the paper would have been shared throughout the region through social media and messaging apps such as WhatsApp.

Wesley said the decision to scrap the paper rather than issuing a new one was taken after considering the mental impact on students, the logistics of administering the exam during the current exam cycle, and the need to have the paper marked in time for matriculation into universities, given that mathematics is one of the compulsory subjects needed by most students.

He said while the organisation has made great strides in its security protocols, there was still a human element to be dealt with in administering the exams which could not be legislated against.

This story was originally published with the title "CXC: Maths paper 2 scrapped, SBAs and Paper 1 to be used" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

CXC registrar Wayne Wesley said the CSEC Mathematics Paper 2 will be scrapped following a leak of the paper on Wednesday. He said students will be assessed on Paper 1 and the school-based assessment (Paper 3(2).

Speaking at a media conference on Friday, he said the leak in the CSEC Mathematics Paper 2 has been traced to a centre in Jamaica. He said the Education Ministry in that country had been notified and steps were being taken to deal with the matter.

He said the paper would have been shared throughout the region through social media and messaging apps such as WhatsApp.

Wesley said the decision to scrap the paper rather than issuing a new one was taken after considering the mental impact on students, the logistics of administering the exam during the current exam cycle, and the need to have the paper marked in time for matriculation into universities, given that mathematics is one of the compulsory subjects needed by most students.

He said while the organisation has made great strides in its security protocols, there was still a human element to be dealt with in administering the exams which could not be legislated against.

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"[UPDATED] CXC scraps Paper II after Jamaica leak – MATH NOT ‘MATHSING’"

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