CXC exams kick off in Guyana, despite COVID-19

Last Updated on Monday, 13 July 2020, 16:47 by Denis Chabrol

by Samuel Sukhnandan

With many countries having already moved to cancel all written examinations for students at  various educational levels, Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean have instead taken the other route.

As such, students commenced their written examinations for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) Monday.

However, Education Minister Nicolette Henry noted in an address to students that these examinations are being done under stringent COVID-19 guidelines.

The students are required to be two meters or six feet apart from each other at all times.  Playing and gathering are prohibited and the Ministry has prohibited vending outside schools  to ensure the safety and wellness of everyone.

Temperature testing is also mandatory and Education Officers will be visiting schools across  the country to ensure that there is full compliance with the order.

Henry said despite these examinations being written at a challenging time and students and  teachers have exhibited great resilience and adaptability to ensure maximum preparation.

According to the Ministry, Henry underscored the importance of the exams and reminded the  students that they (CSEC and CAPE) will determine their future.

The two exams, CSEC and CAPE are being written from July 13- August 4 and July 13- 31  respectively. For CSEC there are 168 centres with 11,998 students registered to write that exam.

While for CAPE 851 candidates are registered to write at 15 centres across the country. The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) took a decision to administer the examinations in a different format this year owing to the pandemic affecting countries globally.Grades will now
be awarded utilizing the moderated SBAs and Paper 1, according to the Ministry.

Today (Monday) CAPE students are writing French Units one and Two Paper Four and the orals for the  said exam; while CSEC students are writing French Paper two and three – Orals.The two examinations (CSEC and CAPE) are being written under guidelines set out in the gazetted and published examination order No 73/2020.

Students, teachers and persons permitted to be in the school compound are required to wear  a face mask at all times. Additionally, handwashing and sanitizing must be done at the entrance of the school.