CXC: 10,000 students miss CAPE exams

There has been an increase in the number of entries regionally this year for candidates and subjects for the Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC's) examinations, including the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).

On Thursday, at the ceremony for the CXC's official release of results ceremony for the CXC May/June 2023 regional examinations held in St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Nicole Manning gave an overview of the results. The ceremony was also broadcasted on Zoom.

Manning, CXC's director of operations, said the increase was a sign that "we are out of the woods" from covid19. CAPE candidate and subject entries moved from 99,000 to over 101,000, which Manning considered "an important and significant move."

CSEC saw 106,000 entries compared to 103,000 last year.

For 2023, the administration also saw entry increases for the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) and Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA).

However, she described candidate absenteeism as a little disappointing.

For CAPE, 9,974 candidates abstained from exams.

"These candidates would have been registered for examinations and would not have turned up. These candidates are ungraded. It's not something that CXC wants to see, and we are 100 per cent sure it's not something that the ministers of education or principals, teachers, and definitely not parents want to see."

She said having reviewed the 2022 period, the administration is encouraging electronic testing.

"One of the first things we did was extend our timetable by a week. Likewise, we extended our registration period by one week," Manning said.

"We aim to please, and if we have an issue, we aim to resolve it in an amicable way by ensuring that people are given the particular time to register. Unfortunately, 2023 did not pass by without a few issues."

She recalled a breach in CSEC Mathematics (paper two) on May 17, 2023. She also recalled a second breach in which some scripts and question papers were stolen on June 14 from a centre.

Manning added that the local registrars stepped in and supported the process "as they normally do" to manage the security of our papers.

On the leakage of the examination and distribution of CSEC Mathematics (paper two)in the digital space, Manning said 81,649 registered and only 76,836 sat the tests.

Manning added, "CXC immediately investigated and determined the source of the leak. The decision to use the modified approach was determined."

She shared some of the hardships faced in different territories, like flooding in TT, the deadly fire in Guyana, and Hurricanes in St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines that caused students to miss examinations.

All affected were allowed to sit the same examination on another date.

"These examinations would have been administered electronically, and none of the candidates would have been left behind. It is important to understand the need for the utilisation of electronic administration assessments."

On School-Based Assessment (SBA) for CAPE students, Manning said 90,299 candidates were set to submit them. There was a one per cent increase from last year in the SBA's non-submission.

She encouraged students, principals, teachers, and parents to work with students in completing SBAs.

"For CSEC, it is two years, and for CAPE, it is one year," Manning said.

"CSEC SBA records show 444,650 candidate entries with 94.42 per cent being submitted and 5.36 per cent not submitted to teachers."

The director said 92.15 per cent of candidates received acceptable grades in CAPE regionally.

She highlighted a few subjects saying Caribbean Studies saw an increase in overall performance from 94 per cent last year to 97 per cent this year, with 18 per cent receiving grade one.

The irregularities and hardships the council faced this year included using cell phones in the examinations. Other irregularities include cheating, disruptive behaviour, plagiarism, and impersonation.

The overall performance of Communication Studies stood at 94 per cent.

French (Unit One) had a 95 per cent overall achievement for candidates, with 17 per cent getting grade one last year compared to 19 percent getting grade one this year.

In French (Unit Two) the overall performance stood at 99 per cent, moving from 16 per cent last year to 41 per cent of students getting grade one.

She recalled that last year's results for CAPE Caribbean History were not good and were of core interest to CXC. A task force was set up to look at what was happening in history. The overall performance stood at 72 per cent, with 13 per cent getting grade one.

There was an increase in the overall performance from 73 per cent last year to 78 per cent this year.

The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education in St Kitts and Nevis, Lisa Pistana, also gave remarks. She said the dual-island nation is fondly known as Sugar City (St Kitts) and Queen City (Nevis), adding that people often referred to St Kitts as sweet and Nevis as nice.

Pistana invited people to visit the nation, meet its "warm, friendly people," and explore its majestic shores.

"Today marks the culmination of years of hard work and long nights for both our students and teachers, and there are many of them here with us today, and those who would have joined throughout the region," Pistana said.

She congratulated all students, their teachers, and, by extension, their families.

Pistana added, "The journey is never an easy one and you should be commended for your tenacity and drive to succeed."

"To those of you who might not be as satisfied with your results, consider it an opportunity for further growth and development. Don't give up at this time."

She also took a moment to remember the 19 children who died in a school dormitory fire in Guyana in May.

"Let us take a moment to remember those students who passed this academic year, especially the 19 vibrant lives that were tragically lost in Guyana. Many souls rest in peace. Amid sorrow, we must remain hopeful."

Several others gave remarks, including CXC registrar and CEO Dr Wayne Wesley and Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, the deputy prime minister and education minister in St Kitts and Nevis.