Disciplinary hearing for teachers in alleged leak of CXC exam papers at Steer Town Academy
Published:Tuesday | April 2, 2024 | 5:52 PM
Three educators at Steer Town Academy in St Ann are to face a disciplinary hearing tomorrow in relation to the alleged leak of examination papers to some students during the 2022 May to June sitting of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams.
Several charges, including neglect of duty, have been laid against the teachers.
The Personnel Committee of the Steer Town Academy Board of Management will be conducting the hearing.
Senior attorney-at-law Anthony Williams, who is representing the board, will be marshalling the evidence being presented by witnesses for the board.
On May 22 last year, Brian Bennett-Easy, chairman of the Overseas Examination Commission, wrote to the chairman of the school board of the academy and Ministry of Education officials referring to reports received of widespread irregularities at that centre.
Some of the allegations were that some candidates had access to live question papers ahead of the examination and were allegedly coached by their teachers before they sat the examinations.
Some students were allegedly able to amend their scripts with the assistance of their teachers after the papers were administered.
“The performance in Mathematics, especially, was at a very high standard and was not in keeping with previous years' performance. Some of the same candidates who sat City & Guilds Mathematics did poorly but excelled in CSEC Mathematics,” was outlined in the letter.
Investigations were carried out into the report and subsequently the three educators had disciplinary charges laid against them.
They are also accused of failing to store the June 2022 examination papers in the fireproof cabinet supplied to the school by the Overseas Examination Council.
The educators were served between March 7 and 12 with documents outlining the charges.
- Barbara Gayle
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