BVI schools send multiple complaints to CXC after 2020 exams
Several institutions in the BVI submitted multiple queries to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) following this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
In an exclusive interview with BVI News, Education Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley said these queries were asking for a review of specific results of specific subjects for several school centres across the territory.
In some cases, they also raised questions about inconsistent School-Based Assessment scores and ungraded results.
Dr Wheatley said St Georges Secondary School, Bregado Flax Educational Centre, the H Lavity Stoutt Community College, and the BVI Seventh-day Adventist School were among the institutions that sent numerous queries to CXC.
The queries were sent to CXC on October 12.
“These queries are not just specific to students, some queries are [requesting an] across-the-board review of a particular subject,” Dr Wheatley explained.
Queries justifiable
He added that the queries from the BVI are justified like those of many others across the Caribbean.
“While I think we did have some commendable results even some of the persons who did very well, were querying some of their results. I think it’s just out of a sense of pride in one’s own hard work that our students are seeking their rightful results,” Dr Wheatley said.
Earlier this week, CXC announced that it has implemented a number of measures to appease hundreds of aggrieved students across the Caribbean who complained about unacceptable grades received after they sat the modified 2020 exams.
Following a flood of complaints, CXC said the fee for a review is US$15 — a 50 percent reduction of the original cost.
“Those persons who have already paid for a review, the difference will be refunded,” Dr Wesley told reporters across the Caribbean.
CXC has also discontinued its policy where a review can result in a reduced grade.
Those who get an improvement on their grades after the review will get a full refund of the fee they paid.
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GO BVI. What we need is some more BVI Teachers on the CXC marking Board. Then and only then will there appear to be some transparency in the system.
They graduate from school, can’t read, can’t write, can’t do simple math and then are disturbed regarding their assessment. Education in the Caribbean as a whole is third world at best. Somewhere near the level of Africa. You want to improve? Hire competent teachers from the first world. Don’t hire teachers that are the product of the same schools. You are perpetuating sun standard levels.
I don’t think that the SGSS BFEC and BVISDA are sending out any students who can’t read and write. These are hardworking students who have every right to query their grades. I was wondering when I would hear that the BVI also joined in the outcry.
Why is the ESHS absent from the list? Do you see where I’m going with this?
The education system in Zimbabwe, despite a disastrous government, for example produces many students who get into and excel at the world’s leading universities.
We don’t improve standards and prospects for students by insulting them, or by regrading poor performance, or by neglecting schools and not bringing in high quality teachers and building proper facilities in favour of using the budget to be dishing out dodgy petty contracts.
We help our children and our territory by having a plan, a goal. What do we want our education system to look like? Who is doing it well that we can learn from? Singapore is always touted and has had excellent results but the system isn’t perfect particularly in arts. Do we want to be tech-focussed? We need a minister and a government with a real plan and the support to implement it. Not continual placating parents or neglecting the role as has happened for so many years.
I heard that this last CXC only did paper 1. Which is multiple choices who can someone cheat you in multiple choices???how can they mark multiple choice questions wrong??
You people self esteem are so low that you get a kick out of trying to bring down others and 100% of the time you blogging lies no facts at all.
It is good that the Ministry is making queries on behalf of students from the British Virgin Islands. It is equally noteworthy that the CXC Board, unlike G.C.E.Examining boards in the UK and others across Europe, is facilutating and addressing queries. To date, the GCE Boards in the UK have not accommodated calls for reviews from enraged parents in the UK.
Subsequently, i applaud the Ministry of Education in the BVI for seizing the opportunity to engage the CXC. Equally, I applaud the CXC for its transparent and democratic approach which encourages and respects the rights of students to make appeals.
More so, I feel proud of the Caribbean Examinations Council for being at the forefront of respecting the rights of our students to query examination grades. They deserve that fundamental right. COVID 19 has impacted globally on approaches used to assess students. Moreover, across the world students are querying the validity of their results at both the secondary and tertiary levels. Unfortunately, many iconic bodies such as the GCE Examining Board and even tertiary level institutions in Europe and the USA have not been accommodating appeals. We in the Caribbean are fortunate that the CXC is accommodative and has gone as far as to appointing an independent committee to investigate its operations
Therefore, I have no doubt that CXC will engage the BVI as it has been doing other regional Ministries in a professional and transparent manner. I have no doubt as well that the Ministry in the BVI, like other regional ministries, will engage in internal audits regarding the abilities and competencies of its teachers to adequately deliver the CXC syllabi. For surely the problem cannot be solely that of the CXC.