Address CSEC and CAPE uncertainty now, Bunting tells gov't

Opposition Spokesperson on Education Peter Bunting says students who want to sit Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) examinations in July should be allowed to do so.

Further, for those who are not in a position to do so, Bunting says these students should be allow to sit the exams in January 2021 at no additional cost, given the exceptional circumstances as it regards the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching. 

The Jamaican Government and the Caribbean Examinations Council are at odds on the issue of the staging of the exams. 

READ: CSEC, CAPE exams will go ahead in July, CXC reaffirms

READ: Gov’t against July CXC exams

The council has insisted that the regional exams will go ahead in July, with Jamaica objecting to the position.

Bunting says urgent effort must be made to address the situation as Jamaicans students are now left to grapple with an uncertain future.

“We must do our best to prepare our children to persevere through challenges, and to mitigate the impact of disasters. To allow CSEC students from other islands, and other nations generally, to move ahead along their productive journey, and disadvantage our own students is unforgivable. The repercussions of such a visionless approach would have a long term negative impact on this cohort’s career prospects,” said Bunting.

Taking into consideration the learning loss which may have occurred due to the lockdown, the Opposition believes that, subject to Ministry of Health and Wellness guidelines:

* From June 1 until the beginning of CSEC exams in July, grades 11 to 13 students should be able to attend supplemental classes, covering intensive refresher material, at their schools. This may be combined with improved digital access and training where possible and appropriate.

* Note that the government has advanced a phased reopening of the society, this combined with the absence of the remaining school population, gives school officials adequate space to observe physical distancing protocols and other health guidelines.

* Students who are unable to take or even those who do not do well in the July sitting should be allowed to sit/re-sit respectively in January 2021 at no additional cost, given the exceptional circumstances.

* Whereas the teaching component of the CSEC/CAPE II curriculum was substantially completed, and students would have been dismissed from schools around that time for study leave or community projects, CSEC/CAPE II students should not have been greatly disadvantaged by the March 13 school closure.

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