CXC review of CSEC and CAPE 2020 results still ongoing -Minister Manickchand

Minister of Education, Hon. Priya Manickchand has said the Ministry is still awaiting the completed review of the 2020 results of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Certificate (CAPE) from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

At a press conference today, she gave assurances that an announcement would be made once the review process is completed.  Minister Manickchand said about 6,251 subject entries from the 2020 exam were affected.

Minister of Education, Hon. Priya Manickchand

Of this sum, 1,258 subject entries from 500 candidates were submitted to CXC for review.  There are 128 reviews still outstanding.  To date, following the review, 456 grades have been changed while 674 have remained the same.  

The Minister said the delay in this process has made it difficult for the Ministry to announce the students with the most Grade Ones.

“We believe that it would be reckless at this point for us to make our usual announcement Guyana makes about those with the highest number of Grade Ones because there are students with outstanding reviews that could change that picture. So, if we were to make an announcement, it would be very clumsy,” she said.

Reflecting on the numerous calls made to the Ministry for clarity on this matter, Minister Manickchand said while she shares similar concerns, the Ministry cannot act without information.

“We do not have the information we need to have to make announcements and so we do not want to affect students further…It could be worse if we go announcing top students and then that changes. [It] is bad for the student who got named ‘top’ and then we have to withdraw that and name someone else the top student, and it’s bad for the student who ought to have made the name but wasn’t named so it is not a psychologically good place to be in,” she added.

Minister Manickchand said she hopes the process can be completed within the next two months, although no date has been provided as the exercise has been hampered by the Covid lockdown in Barbados.

“I am assured by [CXC Registrar] Dr. Wesley that what they can do is to register our CXC. What they can do virtually they are doing, but they are affected by the lockdown that is happening there. It is not something that we cannot be unsympathetic to because we are in a pandemic,” she added.

The Minister also said students who are awaiting the results of the review who are desirous of attending the University of Guyana can do so as the entry requirements have been waived. Some students, particularly those at the level of CAPE have also begun to receive their certificates to allow them to access to tertiary education internationally.

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