HOLD ON, CXC

TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Antonia De Freitas said the Caribbean Union of Teachers has made a plea to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to reconsider holding exams in July.

In an interview on Tuesday, De Freitas said the union is hoping to have a conversation with respective governments and the CXC to find a resolution.

The call comes after CXC registrar Dr Wayne Wesley said on May 15 that the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations exams will be held in July.

De Freitas said one of the major concerns raised at the union’s general council meeting was the changed format for students’ grades. She said there was no consultation with teachers.

“In the past, at least up until last year, students’ final grades would have been awarded based on a combination of assessments, which include SBAs (school-based assessments), paper one and paper two as the case may be.

“Given the fact that now, because of the covid19, CXC is projecting that the final grades will be awarded based on paper one, which is the multiple choices and the SBA, therefore, we are questioning whether that will be enough to provide the integrity and the rigorousness required to award these final grades to students,” she said.

De Freitas said there is a need for teachers to reach out to students to get the documents done, which is a view shared by teachers across the region.

She said under normal circumstances, SBAs and internal assessments for CAPE would have been completed and marks uploaded by now, but this has not happened given the prevailing circumstances.

De Freitas said in some instances, because of the stay-at-home measures, teachers have not been able to get in touch with students despite repeated attempts.

She said these students will not have an opportunity to be awarded marks.

“Additionally, students doing the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) subjects, which include garment construction and design and furniture making, their practicals have to be done in the industry environment. This is where the students go into an organisation. “And because of the closure, students have not been able to complete their practical. The sectors that would have allowed students to go into those industries, they are not opening because they are in phase three (of the planned reopening of the economy).

“Additionally, CXC has an agency in Jamaica where they co-ordinate the entire CVQs verification, and that agency is closed because of the covid19 situation.”

De Freitas said students who are doing regular academic subjects such as science still have lab work to do.

As for students in visual and performing arts and music, their laptops and instruments are in schools.

“They need these things to finish their SBAs.

“We want to ensure that all of our students are given ample opportunity to allow them to obtain the best mark possible.

“Teachers are also affected, because some of them do not have the resources to upload the required documents for students.”

One teacher, who did not want to be named, said one of the challenges is the lack of technological resources to teach. She said many teachers try to get devices for students, but there are students who still do not have a device or internet access.

“It is much more of a reality than people seem to think or believe for a lot of our children. There are students who have siblings and only have one device, or it may not function effectively if they do get access to the internet.

“So productivity is not always on a high or not even average, depending on the year group you are dealing with. There really is an intellectual poverty. And by that I mean some students are not awarded the same advantages because they don’t have or even close to similar resources.”

Echoing De Freitas, she said the situation affects teachers as well, because teachers are willing but some do not have the resources to carry out the work.

“Teachers are now faced (with uploading) more than 30 SBAs and in total there are three different documents teachers have to upload per child. There are teachers who genuinely do not have resources to scan or print documents.”

She said the situation is overwhelming.