Scripts for nine subjects missing from Jamaica school - CXC PAPERS STOLEN

The papers for nine subjects of the Caribbean Secondary Education Council (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) examinations were stolen from a school in Jamaica on Wednesday, raising fresh concerns for thousands of students across the region, including Trinidad and Tobago.

The security breach comes less than a month after a leak of the mathematics Paper II, also out of Jamaica, caused the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to scrap that exam.

CXC, in a release on Wednesday, said the theft of of the exam papers is being investigated by the Jamaican police and that regional ministries of education had been informed.

“This is of grave concern to CXC and the matter is being investigated by the Ministry of National Security and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). CXC is in constant contact with the Ministry of Education and Youth in Jamaica and an update was shared with the Ministries of Education from across the region at a meeting.”

TT’s Education Ministry confirmed it had been informed of the security breach and the investigation by CXC.

“The situation is being closely monitored, and the Ministry of Education will provide updates on this serious matter as they become available. Students and parents are advised that at this time, there are no proposed changes to the CSEC and CAPE examination schedule,” it said in a release.

CXC said it was informed on Wednesday that fireproof cabinets containing the exam papers for nine subjects due to be administered this week were stolen from a school which it did not name.

The Jamaica Observer, however, reported that the school in question was St James High School.

It said, “The management team at St James High School say they are currently dealing with an emergency following news that the school’s office was broken into on Tuesday night and and Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) papers stolen.”

A subsequent release from Jamaica’s Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) on Wednesday reported that the matter was being investigated by the authorities, and was being treated with “priority at the highest levels.”

OEC chairman Brian Bennett-Easy described the theft as a “shameful act” and vowed to continue to fulfil the commission’s mandate of facilitating fair examinations.

“We will not be deterred from our mission of fairness and transparency in the examination process and are doing everything within our power to ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged as a result of this.”

Among the subjects scheduled this week is the English A Paper I, the multiple-choice exam on the subject. It is not yet known if this is among the stolen papers. The English Paper II exam took place on May 16. Mathematics Paper II was leaked on the morning of the exam, on May 15, but was discovered while students locally were doing the test.

That leak was traced to an examination centre in Jamaica. That paper was scrapped, with assessments for the subject to be made using the Paper I or multiple-choice exam paper, and the school-based assessment papers.

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.

The security breach comes amid concerns from TT students who missed examinations between Monday and Wednesday due to heavy rains. One of the papers scheduled for Tuesday was the Mathematics Paper I.

Minister in the Ministry of Education Lisa Morris-Julian said in the Senate on Tuesday that the ministry would be writing to CXC for compassionate consideration on behalf of the students, even though CXC did not usually give makeup examinations.

The ministry was still collating the number of students who missed exams on these days.

Efforts by Newsday to reach CXC to find out what would be done about these students were not successful up to press time.