Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/3570/-1/140/
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NEW CXC EXAM NEXT YEAR Students To Get National Certificates
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A new Secondary Level Programme, created by the Caribbean Examinations Council, will give Anguillian students and others in the region an opportunity to obtain a National Certificate rather than leaving school with nothing in their hands after some five years of secondary education. It means that many of them will have a document of their schooling and ability to present in the job market if they have not gone on to earn the formal CXC Certificate, which is now being offered.
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L-R: Cleveland Sam, Dr. Leyland Thompson and Rodney Rey
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A two-man delegation from the Caribbean Examinations Council is travelling through the region discussing the proposal with education stakeholders. They are Dr. Leyland Thompson, the Assistant Registrar and Syllabus Development Officer at the Western Zone Office in Jamaica, and Cleveland Sam, Assistant Registrar Public Information and Customer Services at the CXC Office in Barbados.
“Basically, we are in Anguilla this week to discuss with education stakeholders the new Secondary Level Programme which CXC has been mandated to introduce over the next year,” Mr. Sam said. “Over the past years educators, as well as Ministers of Education, have been saying that it is unacceptable for such a large number of students to leave secondary school after five years without any certification whatsoever. In addition, there have been calls to introduce a programme to cater for a wider range of abilities for students, taking into consideration the introduction of universal secondary education across the region.”
According to Mr. Sam, after a period of research, discussions and recommendations, CXC was mandated to develop syllabuses for a number of core subjects. The aim is to enable secondary school students to acquire the desirable skills, knowledge, attitudes, abilities and values needed by all Caribbean secondary school students.
CXC has therefore undertaken to set a new examination to cater for these abilities as well as to draw on the expertise of the participating territories to prepare them for assessment tasks.
The basic facets of the programme include a core of five subjects: English, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Modern Languages (Spanish or French) and Social Studies. There are five modules for each subject. In addition to the core subjects, there are various electives which will be done at national levels based on local priorities as well as the interest of the students.
Some of the suggested electives are Health and Family Life Education, Education for Citizenship, Community Service, Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Information Technology. CXC will be administering a multi-choice examination comprising fifty items which will constitute fifty percent of the marks and continuous assessment in the schools administered by teachers will constitute the other fifty percent of the marks.
Unlike the formal CXC and CAPE examinations which offer various grade levels, there will not be a grading system under the new Secondary Level Programme. Instead, students will be reported as being Masters of Competencies if they get an overall percentage of 75-100; if they obtain between 50 and 74 percent, they will be regarded as competent; and if their results drop below 49 percent, they will be viewed as developing competence, but will be required to re-write the examination.
Mr. Sam pointed out that in developing the programme the panel members and educators came up with what they called “generic competencies” and skills which the students would acquire after going through the core subjects. These are problem-solving, critical thinking, informed decision-making; management of emotions; working in groups; diversity and change, handling conflict; and developing positive self concepts. It is also thought that, in addition, other subject-related competencies will be developed. These will include oral and written communication, ability to function in a foreign language, mathematical and scientific literacy and social and citizenship skills.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Rodney Rey, gave the Anguilla Government’s views about the CXC offer. “Certainly, the new exam will meet a need that we have for an examination that would allow the vast majority of students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School to attain mastering of the kind of competency that will be examined,” he said. “Despite being comprehensive, there is still a lot of selection and the present exams set by the Caribbean Examinations Council at the end of five years…do not allow the vast majority of students to attain satisfactory grades. This exam will complement what we now do at “C-Sec” and all students can attain mastery at this level.”
The new programme can be taught from form one and will provide the secondary school students with a firm foundation from which they can move forward. They will have at least three years to complete the five core subjects. Other students with high academic ability, or those desirous of obtaining college entrance overseas will have the usual opportunities to proceed to the formal and qualifying CXC or CAPE examinations.