The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is a Caribbean institution. As Caribbean nationals, we should insist that the integrity of Caribbean institutions be protected. If our institutions provide a high-quality product, their integrity is automatically protected.
CXC has one main product – its examinations. There are three basic components of that product. Namely, a syllabus of information for students to understand, an examination that tests the students’ understanding of that syllabus, and correcting and scoring the examinations.
The students are responsible for understanding the syllabus of information, and doing the examination.
The most critically important part of CXC’s product, is correcting and scoring the exams. Therefore, CXC’s integrity is measured by the quality of its examiners.
QUALIFIED EXAMINERS.
Qualified examiners provide confidence in the integrity of CXC’s product, on which its reputation is sustained. The minimum academic qualification required to correct and score CXC examinations, is a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
Students studying for a Bachelor’s degree may assist teachers to present and correct tutorials. But they are not qualified to correct CXC secondary school examinations. If they did, then that is the root cause of the current dissatisfaction, and no confidence can be placed in the results of those examinations.
If the CXC Board approved the use of first-degree university student examiners, then that is a regional scandal that can damage CXC’s reputation as a provider of quality examinations.
The obvious solutions are two-fold. First, qualified examiners must review all the examinations corrected and scored by unqualified examiners. Second, CXC should mandate that they will never use unqualified examiners to correct or score CXC examinations in the future.
If CXC maintains its secrecy on whether they used first-degree student examiners, and if they insist on using unqualified examiners in the future, then they would have damaged the integrity of the CXC examinations, and the reputation of the regional institution.
The Ministry of Education needs to tell the CXC Board to come clean. If they do not, then another examination body, with more integrity, should be used until they do.
What I am seeing is an administrative and public relations fiasco that will damage their reputation, if not handled in a much better manner than it has been so far.
The lack of appreciation of concerns and the response has been abysmal.
The first step is to learn effective communication skills.
Shocking that an organisation such as that is lacking there.
Seems to be some merit in the above re CXC allowing unqualified first degree students to correct examination papers, which means this is even worse than it first appears…but blaming the students who knew nothing about all of that and were just waiting for results, they definitely went too far, threatening them with prosecution is even worse…these idiots with useless titles need to sit their asses down.
time to get rid of CXC…..and don’t allow them to rebrand, rename and regroup..stop giving these devil organizations IMMUNITY AGAINST OUR CHILDREN…which jackass fake leaders would sink so low to be that damn stupid…and allowed CXC to run wild for decades on end…steupppss..
Well the Chairman Hilary shoudl not be pretending that he knew nothing about any of it, is he not Chancellor at UWI as well, and if he says he did not know, why is he Chair at CXC and Chancellor at UWI too…
It is indeed a huge disappointment to most regionalists and our educators, that one of our better regarded institutions has found itself in this quagmire. We must not allow this embarrassment to define the CXC but work swiftly to regain its footing as soon as possible.
However, it is indeed a positive development that our students are in the forefront demanding that CXC is held accountable. Not all our youth are out there shooting and engaging in other nefarious activities.
Forward Ever , Backward Never!
@William
COVID-19 challenged many similar examining bodies around the world. It appears we made some bad decisions coupled with an aloof approach by management. Let us see what the independent reviews yields.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/education-minister-cxc-to-discuss-alleged-discrepancies_204307
“We must not allow this embarrassment to define the CXC but work swiftly to regain its footing as soon as possible.”
William…CXC ha 2 CHOICES..
fix those kids grades so they can move on with their lives..
GET THE HELL OUT of the lives of the REGION’S CHILDREN AND PARENTS …and don’t ever come back.
what the hell is wrong with yall, you have a devil organization who has been destroying the lives of families for decades covertly in instances where neither the kids nor their parents could fight back and you want them to REGAIN FOOTING..are you crazy…no wonder the slave societies that are the Caribbean islands can never be dismantled….get these blighted, cursed organizations out of the people’s lives….they are a social DANGER to the region’s families.
that way of thinking is a DANGER TO OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS…it’s the taxpayers who have to pay these CRIMINALS tens of mllions of dollars annually for sabotaging the lives of our children..
never in my wildest dreams would i think that they would allow unqualified first years students to grade exam papers, the only students who should have been near those papers are the ones who took the exams and were awaiting results. I have known people, mature professionals, who graded papers across the region for decades and are still capable, many are retired…so now we must ask, how long as Hilary them been allowing this clear breach of protocol….to carry out their wicked agendas.
and stop with the forgiving bullshit, it gets us nowhere.
And as for that one Hilary with his big dreams about a “a Caribbean civilization” did any of the 40 million BLACK people across the Caribbean tell you that is what they want with their reparations money for THEIR FUTURE GENERATIONS that all of you social crabs dream about nightly….DID YOU ASK THEM…yall goddamn colonial slaves only live to create dumb shit and view ya SLAVE NAMES adorned on buildings built with African PEOPLE’S MONEY with ya false pride admiration and self absorbtion….or was it the idea of the crooked, racist minorities yall love to PIMP FOR….you are nowhere near as entitled as you believe ya are….and neither are they..
this crap about creating your own fantasies and delusions while projecting it onto the society as if its what they want and their idea, without asking them what they really want….GOTTA GO ….JUST LIKE ALL OF YOU…
look at the goddamn mess that is CXC…and someone should be crazy enuff to put reparations money belonging to the descendants of slaves in YOUR HANDS…oh really.
CORRECTION:
never in my wildest dreams would i think that they allowed unqualified first DEGREE students to grade exam papers…and there exists grown people who would still trust this wicked organization to continue…madness.
https://youtu.be/mEcpAlaALYw
@ Mr. Skinner
It’s about time we ‘resist’ quoting the SAME silly rhetoric, with monotonous regularity, and applying it to EVERY issue that confronts Barbados and by extension, the region.
I agree with the RATIONAL sentiments you expressed in your September 30, 2020 9:51 PM contribution.
David BU also made an interesting observation relative the challenges COVID-19 presented to world, from which examination bodies have not been exempted.
The Caribbean Examinations Council as the name suggests is a regional entity read owned by the respective countries of the region. It is imperative that as a region we do what is required to make the institution stronger. It had served us well for many years and is respected for the work it has done. The blogmaster will not join anyone in denigrating CXC. CXC, CDB, Windies Cricket and a few others help to define who we are as a people.
Instead of striving to forgive criminals…how about we start seeking JUSTICE for the evil shit forced upon us by our own BLACK FACES for endless decades in Barbados and Caribbean…injustices that destroyed countless Black lives that can never be fixed.
https://youtu.be/7uMQyM2L8Q8…
When African descended people start operating at a HIGHER VIBRATION…then they won’t be on blogs complaining day and night about the same injustices over and over, year after year.
https://youtu.be/dx40_BdsO7E
@ William
The answer to the CXC scandal was simple: launch an inquiry as soon as was practicable, send copies of the marked papers to the students (I know you are not keen on how they do it in Europe, but all marked paper are available free to students aft er the exams), set in motion procedures for appeals and persuade local colleges and universities to freeze offers of places until the review was complete.
The only victims of this incompetence are the students and its impact will last for the rest of their lives. Where is the president? Her minister? Senior technocrats? And, where is the press?
The problem with the media is that local readers and viewers are so accustomed to mediocrity that they do not expect any better.
@ Artax
I have long ignored those who believe that we are some backwater region that is incapable of creating our own solutions and solving our own problems. We all shout that most of our problems are created by exogenous circumstances but yet we prefer to dip in that same pool to find solutions.
The CXC has served the region and our children well. One only has to find time, to research and realise it is a highly respected organization. I will bet you a billion dollars , that some would be less critical if it were a mess up coming from London with the GCEs and LCCs. To this day there are some who believe that they are not well qualified or educated unless they went to some British university.
I unapologetically remain a steadfast regionalist. There is plenty pain, I admit, witnessing basically visionless leaders who have failed to complete the Independence experiment.
However when I open the papers and see young articulate students fighting for and demanding that their rights be respected, I am convinced that throughout this country and region, we will eventually get it right.
@ WURA
I am not “forgiving” anybody at CXC but I was taught that if a person does you right for 99 years and then does you wrong once; you cannot judge the person by the one time they do you wrong. Therefore while I often identify with many of your positions, it is obvious to me that you know very little about the CXC.
Peace.
The official response of CXC to this debacle typifies the arrogance displayed by practically all persons we have elevated to high decision making positions whether it be the CXC registrar, Ministers, Board Chairmen, CEOs or otherwise when faced with a true crisis.
The power and the big salary we confer on them seems to go to their head where they believe they have all the answers and whatever they say goes and we either have to take it, like it and be thankful or lump it. The one thing COVID has show us, if not anything else, is which of the people we have elevated to these positions are capable of handling a true crisis and deserve to be there.
It was clear to everyone from the start something was very wrong when students sat exams and mere attendance was not even recognized. They came with the heavy-handed response typical of too many people in power ready for a fight instead of simply stating ‘We have recognized an unusually situation with larger than expected failure rates and lower grades across the board in various subjects. We are currently undertaking an urgent investigation into the situation to identify any problems that occurred whether related to COVID exam changes or otherwise.’
@ Hal
You are correct. This matter has been handled rather badly. What you saw is the usual blame game both locally and regionally.
However , CXC track record , up to this point, has been more than impressive.
Quite frankly , there are many regional institutions that do quite well but our visionless politicians get in the way and we pay little attention to how positively these regional institutions impact on the region. We spend so much time on Trump, Biden, Trudeau, Johnson and others and how they mess up the world that many of us are embarrassingly uninformed of what goes on in our region outside of parochial political drama. We need to put our vast intellects to more scrutiny of the region and assist with its development in all areas.
William…ya can stay in ya little world, but CXC did not do one shite for anyone, they are paid tens of millions of dollar annually from TAXPAYERS ACROSS THE REGION since the 1970s…they never did not one favor for any family in the Caribbean..and will NEVER DO ANYTHING FOR FREE….
..
yall remind me of the Botham Jean family from St. Lucia, always displaying self destructive, self defeating tendencies… a murderous racist walks into his apartment and kills him in cold blood…the mentally weakest of the family hugs this evil killer AFTER she was convicted talking about, i forgive you, days later the witness who helped convict her GOT MURDERED…since then not one person has offered support to the family, because they were warned that racists are toxic poison, you do not touch them nor interact with them PERIOD…..so what happens recently, someone holds some type of memorial for the Botham dude and never invited the family, i would bet my last dollar it’s the killer’s supporters involved and raised money to free her….no one needs mental midgets and their self defeating, self destructive nature…
i know more than enuff about CXC and none of it any good….so you can sing their praises all you want, all they will do is KEEP the Caribbean as intellectual BACKWATERS as they have done for DECADES…….cause that is what yall allow..
don’t know if yall have noticed in the last 8 years, but what impresses you NEVER IMPRESSES ME.. call it what you want, i operate at a different level, that will never see me or mine being oppressed and exploited..
The problem with too many Black people, when they get these little picks on boards and in other areas, they believe they have arrived and owe these organizations something, well more fool you..
keep forgetting your history and you are DOOMED TO KEEP REPEATING IT PERPETUALLY.
“The one thing COVID has show us, if not anything else, is which of the people we have elevated to these positions are capable of handling a true crisis and deserve to be there.”
that’s it in a nutshell…they always claim to be the most intelligent in the Caribbean if not the across the world, one little crisis, because that is all Covid is, a SMALL GLITCH…and look at the low level they have operated on, and truth be told, that is what EXPOSED THEM as they have needed to be exposed for decades…
to hear them tell it they are stable geniuses, them and the idiots who believe they are so dynamic….so explain what happened why don’t ya…..instead of trying to deflect, cover up and shift blame to innocent students, be they the ones who had nothing to do with any of it, or those they HIRED from UWI but am sure did not pay to FCUK up all the marks……..
Only 2 PMs across the whole Caribbean publicly made their feelings known and threatened to pull out of CXC, that i know of, hopefully they follow up and don’t do the destructive forgiving shit…..Santia was half hearted in her condemnation….AND I KNOW WHY…
all the others are silent except for their little meet to decide what to do and no doubt cover their own asses for what they have allowed to socially and intellectually POISON THE CARIBBEAN FOR DECADES..
… it’s the parents, students and certain organizations making the real PUSH BACK to hold CXC accountable for this clear breach of students’ rights..and they must be commended for STANDING UP FOR CIVIL RIGHTS……but only those impacted will see it as such, everyone else will talk shite until they hear one of their family members got screwed out of their grades, if not this year, another…
Keep singing CXCs praises, not all of.us are THAT BLIND…some of us actually know what’s really going on. So enjoy ya little pretend world, some of us have relatives to protect.
“CAPE Students of a particular school are reporting that after receiving low grades/ungraded from CXC their grades have now been changed into ONES!
CXC which days ago boasted in the integrity and flawless delivery of their exams has SWITCHED the grades of a high performing school in Trinidad.
This follows protests from parents and teachers citing that this school usually cops a sizable percentage of the scholarships and it would be absurd for the entire school to be graded so badly.
Now we are left with several questions:
How were the new grades determined?
How did they receive the erroneous old grades in the first instance?
Wasn’t the system flawless?
Weren’t we told that there were ZERO errors reported on the CXC results?
What about the other numerous schools which reported absurd grades?
In some cases entire forms received ungraded!
Will CXC reveal the RAW scores of students in the region so students can determine their actual performance?
Can they release the raw percentages without revealing the arrogance and lack of integrity buried in their grading process?
What if the students didn’t protest?
What if they didn’t have the volume and clout of public figures pushing their cause through closed doors?
How much can CXC get away with?
Will the mechanism for grade determination continue to be kept secret for a handful of people sitting behind closed doors in Barbados?
Why wasn’t this selected regrading announced by CXC?
Is it time for the CEO of CXC to address the region candidly or resign?
Anyone know the answer to these questions…?”
@ William
The issue is not the quality of the CXC; it is about an exam during the CoVid year. Every country in the world was faced with the same problem. Only the incompetent (CXC and England) came out of it badly.
Whether individually or collectively, once there were complaints there should have been immediate action. I say again, the only victims are t he students and this incompetence can impact them for the rest of their lives.
Do not apologise or excuse incompetence. Look at Dr Wesley’s obstinacy; look at Prof doctor Sir Hillary Beckles and his smoke and mirrors: we will have an inquiry; but who are the people carrying out this review? Straight out of the Mia Mottley play book. It must be something in the Bajan cou cou. Why can’t we be straight? Do Bajans see being honest and decent as a weakness?
Dear William:
This did not just start, it has been happening for more years than even i care to talk about but on a much smaller scale. So now you know.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=749208205928509&id=1011619802320263&sfnsn=wa
Said my bit elsewhere.
Will watch as they beat their gumbs,
Rally around the flag,
Flood the moat,
Pull up the drawbridge and
Repel the invaders.
The one thing that stand out for me is the changing of grades.
Regardless of covid-19, the same paper marked by a different grader or marked over by the same person should result in the ‘same’ grade.
Without this reproducibility, one must wonder about the grading processes and the quality of these processes.
But let us circle the wagons and pretend this is an attack on Caribbean organizations and not a self-inflicted wound. Let us wave our hands and wish it away.. abracadabra.
Sorry, must big up the teachers across the whole region.
it’s the parents, TEACHERS, students and certain organizations making the real PUSH BACK to hold CXC accountable for this clear breach of students’ rights..and they must be commended for STANDING UP FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.
problem with some, they are regionalists in slave societies, a term coined just for them….and not AFRICANS…that is the beginning of all their problems…
“The one thing that stand out for me is the changing of grades.”
don’t mind the gum flapping…..that is a very clear…. let’s try a thing scenario…and if it don’t work, we can lie, and if that don’t work, we can just give up the real grades and blame it on the students and no one will know which students we talking about….all the shit blew up and blewback and there they are with all their drawers exposed…
do you notice that the REAL GRADES appeared within days, not weeks nor months DAYS……not the 6 WEEKS or more that it takes to grade CXC or CAPE papers….DAYS…..DAYS….DAYS…for those whose heads are too thick to get it…
And for those who still don’t get it…a thorough regional REGRADE would have taken the same length of time as it took to grade the papers……WEEKS AND WEEKS….unless…
so the question that parents are rightfully asking, from where and how did these accurate grades SUDDENLY APPEAR….i told yall by last Sat kids were magically getting their predicted grades, but no, naysayers had to chime in with their usual shite talk…
“Dear William: This did not just start, it has been happening for more years than even i care to talk about but on a much smaller scale. So now you know.”
WARU
What you’re saying is interesting. Please post something to BU to show us what happened the other day at CXC was happening for years.
Just to let you know what you post from Facebook was a teacher saying he anticipated the situation would happen.
//www.instagram.com/embed.js
Not only our Governments lacks transparency …. but also CXC!!!
(1) With Paper 2 not part of the final equation, how were final marks calculated using Paper 1 & SBA’s only?
(2) SBA’s no doubt weighed more towards the final mark this year …. how did CXC standardise SBA marks which are determined by teachers across the Caribbean? Some teachers mark harder/easier than others!
(3) Over the years, I’ve seen Multiple choice questions with more than one answer choice correct. How does CXC handle this situation?
(4) Is the Multiple Choice Paper 1 corrected by man or machine? Are there quality control checks?
Hal suggested giving back students their marked exam papers….. lol….. educators in Barbados would go to the gallows before that would happen. Even at UWI, such an event does not happen, far less in schools.
Secrecy is the norm!!!
Michael…i don’t have to post a thing else, you can do your own research…all the infor is available….i already mentioned that i know multiple retired teachers who have graded CXC and CAPE FOR DECADES….
what i can tell you for everyone to see, is that the various school principals and teachers should be given medals to be able to operate successfully in the BACKWARD SYSTEMS that regional governments continue to provide and then pretend it’s a success with them taking all the credit..
the schools have their own system that is commendable and it’s DESPITE CXC and the retarded governments, not because of them….they make sure the kids who are on scholarship watch, stay their course and provide all the technical help they need, they make sure kids with potential get the required help to succeed, they provide additional help for those who may or may not get the required grades…and they do all of this on their own…
it’s ya useless governments and backward system that’s the problem stupid…..paying out tens of millions to CXC annually from the 70s AND FOR WHAT…
https://youtu.be/h-SGK26p1IM
All schools will be closed today, October 1, 2020.
The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT) indicated this was due to the predicted weather system and potential for flooding, and in the interest of the safety of teachers, parents and students.
The Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, the Barbados Community College and Erdiston Teachers College will also be closed and should engage students using the online modality where possible.
The City and Guilds English and Mathematics examinations scheduled for today were also postponed and an alternative date will be sent to students writing these exams (BGIS)
WURA-War-on-UOctober 1, 2020 7:11 AM
Most strange. There is no way those papers could have been regarded that quickly. So, it gives some credence to your allegations of an ulterior motive in the initial bad gradings.
But WHY?????
Now they really need an investigation. Not by other educational bodies, but by an official investigative authority.
The more openminded amongst us understand that they tried something nasty in the Caribbean to disenfranchise our children and grandchildren and it backfired. The more cognizant among us now understand that we have to be very vigilant going forward and protect our families from nasty questionable governments and devil organizations.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/10/01/bstu-promise-of-independent-review-not-enough/
“Not by other educational bodies, but by an official investigative authority.”
let’s see HOW the governments handle it from here going forward, then we will know WHO IS WHAT…
Crusoe..it was the simplest thing in the world to recognize, i think it was between the 20th and 23rd the BOGUS results came out from CXC, then a HUGE OUTCRY…and protest which was obviously UNEXPECTED….by the 24th Santia was calling for a probe which CXC blatantly ignored and brazenly claimed that nothing was wrong with the grades.
by the same Saturday, the expected results started trickling out here and there and earlier this week other schools in the region started getting their expected grades….there is no way they could have REGRADED anything across the region that quickly..they know most people will not even consider the timelines, they know there are those who will just accept their evil, devious shit at face value..
in case some people forgot…all of this happened within the last week…i want to see the proof that they could grade or regrade papers in stealth WITHIN 1 WEEK, but take nearly 2 months normally to grade papers and release results…
math does not lie…but people do.
https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/247823/cxc-resisting-grade-investigation
@ks.. here is what answer could look like. Assume A and B are correct.
A
B
A and B
C
D
All of the above
Careful and clever multiple choice questions can separate the wheat from the chaff. I happen to believe that well constructed mc questions can challenge even the best students; if the questions become repititive then that reflects a kind of laziness in those creating the questions.
#pingpong video
I think they attempted to “curve” the data. But the clumping made this next to impossible.
Suspect no regrading was done. The raw scores were issued instead of transformed scores.
I dun wide this.
On a phonr
Have anyone given thought to the fact that the students may not have done well on the exams because of the layoff for covid? Even the brightest of us do not make the grade sometimes. I was a church going choirister and I failed Scripture at Oxford and Cambridge. Always thought the bible was fairy tales and never took it seriously. A talking snake, talking burning bush, etc., that seemed to me at the time, to have come straight from Hans christian Andersen. Having said that, at O&C, the exam mark was what you got, no complaints, no reviews, and no term marks were included. You either knew the stuff and passed the exam, or you failed. Switching from O&C to Cambridge Schools was because some said the exams were too hard. then they switched from Cambridge to CXC because someone thought they should have their own examination board. Storm in a teacup, as far as I am concerned.
That would sound intelligent, if not for the fact that CXC are the ones screwed up and not the kids…we are too quick sometimes to doubt the abilities of the young generation in our ignorance, so how come they did so badly only last week and did excellent this week per CXCs new results…..steupppsss.
@ Dame Bajans
Yes. That is why there is called for a public inquiry, and not |Sit Hillary’s secret little cabal. It is why the minister should also ignore the bureaucrats and public the results for each individual school.
Barbados is a secret society. We love it, since it means we can all gossip. Don’t let facts get in the way.
i do believe that the Trinis, Guyanese and Jamaicans are the ideal people to handle CXC Barbados.
does anyone disagree?
We need people who are mentally free and are capable of thinking outside the colonial slave box that their evil, lowlife, corrupt leaders left them in, too many people are shamelessly but unknowingly displaying those traits on social platforms in 2020..
Dame Bajans,
No, most of the work would have been covered before the layoff from school. There are very good online resources which one can use to study and revise. The top students would have done that and they are mostly the ones complaining.
Also, if nothing is wrong at the CXC end, explain to me how my son is marked absent for two examinations for which we have the receipts. Explain how many of his friends are in the same position. Explain how many of the friends of his friends are also in the same position. Explain the voice note from his former teacher that says many of his students are in the same position.
You are dead wrong. What you say has long been debunked.
TheO,
You may very well be correct. The video gives a pretty good explanation.
Crusoe,
It is the top students who are complaining. Many of these would be the sons and daughters of the “power brokers”. What is the logic behind the conspiracy theory?
More likely that CXC has found the problem and is trying to sneak in the changes without admitting it. A cover up to save the ass of the pompous ignoramus at the top.
His ass would not need saving if he had treated the concerns intelligently in the first place.
Donna…people will still try to make excuses although it DEFIES LOGIC….all we can do is protect our families from goddamn idiots…you see how little concern many have for the welfare and futures of these students…..yet they are the head ones who want the younger generation to give a shit about them….
“Also, if nothing is wrong at the CXC end, explain to me how my son is marked absent for two examinations for which we have the receipts. Explain how many of his friends are in the same position. Explain how many of the friends of his friends are also in the same position. Explain the voice note from his former teacher that says many of his students are in the same position.”
that throws a new light on the issue. I thought it was just poor grades, but absent when the child actually wrote the exam could mean papers were lost. It could also mean that the children’s numbers were mixed up when assigning grades to the names and the weaker students got the good grades. I am assuming that each student is assigned a number to put on the exams and these are later matched to the names. I am from the old school having written in 1965 and 66. Am not really familiar with the ‘new’ process. How does this affect those kids who would be entering college, etc, or do they all write CAPE which is not really necessary to enter university.
https://youtu.be/zyx9ZOA8gsU
Jamaica will not sugar coat.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/opinion/cxc-2020-results-18-52-4_204395
Seem to be a reasonable explanation that. Obviously a big foul up that needs to be fixed.
“Jamaica will not sugar coat”…… another damming opinion of CXC’s mode of operation!!! No transparency, too much secrecy, no obligation to explain!!!
I feel for our kids …. and parents, caught up in this fiasco brought on by CXC. Follow the lead of the examining body OFQUAL (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation in England) and exercise leniency and flexibility.
You have another round of exams coming up in January, a mere three months away. Have you decided if it’s the same ‘mode of operation’? Will it be Paper 1 and SBA’s only, again?? Please tell the students who are now studying and don’t wait until the last minute …. or is Covid under control and Paper 2 is on again??
@waru 7:11
Very good post.
At several places, the author described what I called attempting to curve the data.
“In other words, if every year approximately 50 per cent of Jamaican students pass CSEC mathematics, then this year, no matter how easy the exam, grades must reflect the same 50 per cent, plus or minus a few percentage points. And if they don’t, they will be manipulated until they do. “
I divided this onto two types:
1. Issues with grading
2. Missing and ungraded papers
It is quite possible that missing and ungraded represent reporting the same issue in two different ways. As the examination is missing it will be marked as Ungraded. If so, this inconsistency in reporting also reflects that there Are some areas in need of further standardization.
It is not my intention to make light of any situation, but if exams moved from point A to Point B, then possible explanations can be provided for why the examinations went missing.
I think CXC is shooting itself in the foot of it start changing grades. Can you imagine a university receiving a revised transcript for a student and the transcript has completely different grades? Can the university continue to consider the source as trustworthy?
It would be better if these examining bodies claim they were hacked, before they change grades.
Was COVID-19 the cause of a problem or did it magnify an already existing problem… Do we need to go back to past years.
But I will wait for more reasoned responses…. (That is also one of the reason we are so screwed, we want answers from a select group ….. suffering from a foolish snobbishness)
Theo…no matter what, CXC Barbados will NOT BE SACRIFICIING OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN in the Caribbean….we will go to the ends of the earth for those fcukers, Barbados government just be aware…..they can all put that in their pipes and smoke it..
TheO,
You have been talking shite for days! The problem has obviously been caused by the removal of Paper Two.
And you want them to not change grades and kill young people’s futures or claim they were hacked?????
Mistakes can be made by any institution. The truth is ALWAYS the best option. The integrity is shown when problems are investigated, a report is made and the mistakes are promptly corrected.
THAT is how you establish integrity.
WTH is wrong with you?
No matter what, even the grades received by kids who did not earn them will be impacted..with all the exposure worldwide…..universities will also be wondering if those grades are accurate…..and ya see the registrar fraud already came out publicly accusing the kids of tampering with and switching grades….so were i these kids, i won’t use those grades period…let CXC WALLOW IN ITS OWN BLOWBACK.
It will be the ends of the earth for CXC Barbados….either way…
“or is Covid under control and Paper 2 is on again??”
misusing the pandemic is the beginning of the END FOR THEM…
Just let it play out.
I think CXC is already aware of how a mass chAnging of grades can affect its credibility. This could make some (including tertiary institutions) question what happened in the past and be suspicious of future exam results.
I can understand how those who has horse in the race feel about this situation, but these organizations must thread very carefully as they go forward. A hurried/immediate solution could be a disaster and no real help tho those who were affected.
The sentence was to show how serious I consider the situation. Clearly, at this stage it is too late for such a claim to be taken seriously.
I understand the passion.
Newsflash!!!!!…already a DISASTER..
CXC has always believed that it has government like privileges or is it’s own country…..dumb ass Caribbean governments allowed it and the people accepted this destructive mediocrity…a thorough investigation needs to be extended to include governments who allowed this utter wickedness against Caribbean people to continue for decades.
“She added that subsequent letters sent from other teachers’ unions across the region to their respective governments and from the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) to the CXC all appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.
“This year’s [issues] are just a culmination of a set of unaddressed problems that we have been reporting on for a while,” the union leader complained.
“They behave as if they are completely autonomous; the governments in the region have allowed them to behave in that way. It is a case of the tail wagging the dog and we have been complaining about that for a long time. CXC needs to listen to its customers, and it needs to treat the input of the people who are implementing their programmes in the region with respect and with regard. They have not been doing that for years now.”
We will no longer accept MEDIOCRE GOVERNMENTS nor MEDIOCRITY in our children and grandchildren’s lives…don’t give a shit who is vexed or pleased…..the world will know what is going on in Barbados and the Caribbean, governments ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE continue to work against the best interests of our current and future generations..
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/10/01/bstu-promise-of-independent-review-not-enough/
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/10/01/bstu-promise-of-independent-review-not-enough/
It appears that ‘Mary’ gets it.
No matter how the examining body responds, it’s image will be (is already) damaged.
There also seem to be a lot of resentment over CXC behaviour in the past; instead of building a cooperative relationship, CXC was acting in a high-handed manner.
“They behave as if they are completely autonomous; the governments in the region have allowed them to behave in that way. It is a case of the tail wagging the dog and we have been complaining about that for a long time. CXC needs to listen to its customers, and it needs to treat the input of the people who are implementing their programmes in the region with respect and with regard. They have not been doing that for years now.”
Though it may appear to be so, now is not the best time to settle old scores.
https://youtu.be/jtQwq-s7cwc
Theo….i hope you read the article twice..
I read and reread.
People are looking for an immediate response. CXC is looking at the long game; the wrong move could damage their reputation even more.
Everyone wants the quick fix, but what value are changed grades if other universities begin to question the value of these grades.
The easy and fast answers and the solution that everyone wants could lead to the death of CXC
The long game will be over and CXC will close down. How about that?
An English Examination Board abandoned their unfair algorithm generated grades and used a different method. New grades were awarded. What was wrong was made right. Anybody questioning them?
You refuse to see sense.
“The easy and fast answers and the solution that everyone wants could lead to the death of CXC”
so why would that be a bad thing given their track record and believe that they are either a sovereign government or country because of the immunity given them by idiot governments….no one needs that stupidity in their lives, definitely not our current and future generations.
“New grades were awarded. What was wrong was made right.”
and all within 48 HOURS….don’t know why Theo wants to give CXC that much rope, unless it’s to hang them all….
Why would you want to keep such an entity alive, that believes it can continue mooching tens of millions from taxpayers across the Caribbean annually and NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, AND NOT BE TRANSPARENT…
We can guess which corrupt idiots allowed an examination body to believe that they are special and godlike for so many decades…as*holes..
“CXC gets legal threat from T&T RC schools over poor exam scores
by
3 days ago
Tue Sep 29 2020
Sir Hilary Beckles.
Rhondor Dowlat-Rostant
A legal letter has been sent to Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) chairman Sir Hilary Beckles demanding that the council call a special meeting to discuss several matters and issues arising from complaints of irregularities in the grading of this year’s CAPE and CSEC results.
The letter was issued by attorney D.P. Allahar on behalf of the boards of the Dominican Sisters and Holy Ghost Fathers, which runs several Roman Catholic schools in T&T. It called on Beckles, as chairman, to call the special meeting to discuss the issues.
It listed the following areas as needing to be addressed:
(a) the respective weights accorded to the External Assessment and the School-Based Assessments;
(b) the methodology or algorithm used for the moderation of all School-Based Assessments for all subjects;
(c) the methodology or algorithm used to calculate the final overall grades for all subjects;
(d) a suspension of the examination regulations (including the time-limits for any reviews and queries) pending a full audit of the process leading up to the award of all final marks in the 2020 examinations by an independent, external auditing firm appointed by the council; and
(e) that all stakeholders (including ministries, schools and students) be provided in the interim with the information in (a), (b) and (c) above; and the taking of any other measures to preserve the integrity and reputation of the Caribbean Examinations Council while ensuring the transparency and accountability of its operations.
The letter added, “Chairman, this respectful demand, is based on the inescapable conclusion that the “new” processes utilised by CXC for the 2020 CAPE and CSEC exams were flawed.
“You would readily agree that these are critical issues that require urgent clarification, audit and resolution before any final grades are issued.”
It said in the event the request is denied, the attorneys will urge the T&T Government to collaborate with its regional counterparts to urgently convene such a meeting of the council.
“For too long the CXC has operated without accountability and transparency, immune from judicial review and as a virtual monopoly, in disregard of the rights of students who are ultimately the consumers of its certification services. It is insulting that the CXC Registrar has refused to give our Minister of Education any information on the matriculation of the SBAs until after reviews are conducted; encouraging students to instead use the expensive review process,” the letter stated.
The letter said the lawyers were prepared to take the matter to the Caribbean Court of Justice to get redress.”
Theo…we have been saying for years that all the mediocre governments in Barbados and the Caribbean are capable of and excel at is copying the worse aspects of colonialism and other crimes to practice on their own people, but as this CXC mess has shown us, all of them walk around in 5 year increments with INFLATED chests and EMPTY heads, as public nuisances…but don’t know how to fix anything, just as they don’t know how to copy the positive aspects of anything from any country to improve their people’s lives….
self-serving pretenders and frauds……over 10 days later and nothing is resolved re the kid’s grades….UK with a population of 67 MILLION people, and am sure at least ten million students….had their examination issue resolved in 48 hours…..but the ones in the Caribbean must act as though it’s brain surgery and rocket science that needs to be performed and will try to drag something that can be done in hours, into months or 5-7 years if they are allowed to get away with that review shite, that is CXC evil track record…….they all want suing…am glad the catholics in TT are going after them, they don’t have any devil agreement with them like the backward governments, have so private entitles are free to sue.
..CXC is a money sucking joke, a parasitic money pit greedily sucking on the lives of Caribbean taxpayers for decades, something has to be done about them and all their impish, pimping hangerson… period.
It appears that there is disgust throughout the Caribbean at how CXC behaves and how it responds to request for information.
“For too long the CXC has operated without accountability and transparency, immune from judicial review and as a virtual monopoly, in disregard of the rights of students who are ultimately the consumers of its certification services. It is insulting that the CXC Registrar has refused to give our Minister of Education any information on the matriculation of the SBAs until after reviews are conducted; encouraging students to instead use the expensive review process,” the letter stated.
At this time my only interest is how CXC responds to this imbroglio.
You seem to be covering this situation from several different news sources. You are not waiting on the reasoned reports or the Sunday’s cut and paste from the Barbadian news. Good for you.
Why don’t you stop posting nonsense. The CXC agreed to an independent review based on protests and a meeting with regional education ministers. Everything else is noise until the report comes in. You want the blogmaster topull down a regional institution that has served the region well for years? Missteps will occur, the constructive thing to do is to correct and move on. This is where we are today. Instead the solution coming from you et al is to return to matriculation managed by the colonists.
Steuspe
>
Quote from myself.
“At this time my only interest is how CXC responds to this imbroglio.’
Nowhere, can you show me where I have said that we return to exam from external sources.
Having shot down the two big lies, let me add ‘any fool can see that I am more interested in preserving CXC than destroying it. Indeed. That has been the charge leveled against me.
But for your type, sense comes from only a few. Your psuedo ‘intellectual’ snobbishness is showing.
Take your own damn advice and scroll.
@wura
We may diverge on a few points, but
keep up your efforts.
We don’t all have to be on the same page, we are not running for office, and we are not looking for likes
Throw it in, let them pick and choose what they want. To hell with their opinions. Just voice yours.
Even more pronounced is the DEAFENING SILENCE coming from regional governments except for Guyana and Grenada who put CXC on notice…..tells us even more about the the silent governments relationship to this leaching organization that obviously fancies itself a sovereign corporation or country…..firmly embedded within Caribbean people and their children’s lives.
“To hell with their opinions. Just voice yours.”
can’t agree on everything…trying to open eyes, but some of them belong to the crown so far be it from me to trespass….i have no intention of going out of bounds and they better stay in their corners..
Is David |BU an intellectual? Please!!!! The guy needs to go back to school.
“Instead the solution coming from you et al is to return to matriculation managed by the colonists”
Mia just said that she is unshakling from the crown, so what would colonists be doing managing matriculation in Barbados or the Caribbean going forward for that matter…..and why the hell did your uppity, arrogant corrupt leaders not manage it internally themselves without all the corrupt practices that they are well know for the in last 30 years at least, it would have saved each government some money to further improve the lives of students… ..instead of some faceless trash from CXC sucking tens of millions of dollars and whom NONE OF YOU KNOW WHO HIDES BEHIND THE ENTITY and create destruction in our children and grandchildren’s lives every year….
i don’t give a shit about CXC especially since TAXPAYERS HAVE TO PAY THEM…no one has ever begged them for anything and hey would never give anything for free..
and why the hell did your uppity, arrogant corrupt leaders not manage it internally themselves without all the corrupt practices that they are well known for, in the last 30 years at least, bet you should they shed CXC now, they would fasten themselves to an equally destructive but notedly corrupt examination body to continue disenfranchising the regions children…everything they do is corrupt, everything they attach themseves to is corrupt…the problems reside INSIDE your leaders…..
In all fairness to the CXC , it is a regional body. It will be inopportune to report to individual ministers of education until a comprehensive review of the problem is done.
One of the recurring dangers in the region , is that while we shout about deconstructing colonialism, with which I agree, we still tend to behave like our former colonial masters, who believed in divide and rule. We need to become more rational in our dealings and problem solving.
While I agree with all students and parents protesting and having their voices loudly heard; we must still respect that the CXC has to review the entire issue and then make the findings known to all and sundry.
It’s a regional problem and it must be solved from that perspective.
Peace.
What is wrong with you and Blogmaster this morning William…
no, it’s not a regional problem…it’s CXCs problem that THEY CREATED…the region did not do anything…the region is CXCs and the respective government’s VICTIMS…yall got it twisted….it negatively IMPACTED the region…that’s it..
don’t know what the two of you are rambling on and on about colonists for this morning, with cousin Boris giving his impromptu epiphany on Black people, it appears to have rattled yall somewhat…..the only problem i have except for the obvious (more on that later) is he needs to start addressing “black people” as Africans from Africa, THEIR CONTINENT…and acknowledge that it’s not UKs.
it is clear that Black regional governments are not intellectually capable of doing anything for their people who look just like them, they .always need some white, indian or syrian to be involved at the taxpaying level, whether to consult or just be garden variety parasites in taxpayer’s lives…and yet everything remains the same, the problems are NEVER resolved….things get progressively worse and it’s always contrary to what they say on the election platform..when they promise the earth and the moon and all kinds of elaborate lies….yet, the moment they are elected they start outsourcing their jobs to the tune tens of millions paid by the people and still continue getting their large ministerial salaries for doing squat…..can anyone say Mia and her gang.
@ William
They are carrying out a review, but do you know who are the members of the review panel and when and how they will report?
Just bear in mind that all you CXC sympathizers are not the ones now having to comfort and fight on behalf of totally conscious and aware teenagers who are now under severe mental distress…as was PLANNED FOR THEM..
.so when yall crying for CXC take a moment to acknowledge what these kids are being subjected to by adult bullies.
“and yet everything remains the same, the problems are NEVER resolved….things get progressively worse and it’s always contrary to what they say on the election platform..when they promise the earth and the moon and all kinds of elaborate lies….yet, the moment they are elected they start outsourcing their jobs to the tune tens of millions paid by the people and still continue getting their large ministerial salaries for doing squat…..can anyone say Mia and her gang.”
Now you see why “we” don’t like you.😀😀😀😀😀😗
The self-proclaimed mythical godlike nobodies in the Caribbean have been famous for decades….now there will be total and uninterrupted EXPOSURE
https://trinidadexpress.com/opinion/columnists/students-at-the-centre-fact-of-clich/article_dfb486ca-01ea-11eb-9957-7b4474e6b06c.html
.
The CXC should use this as an opportunity to change its ways. That is the only way it will survive. If the registrar had responded reasonably by acknowledging the concerns and promising to look into them; if he had acknowledged that the new methods were due to the pandemic and were not CXC’s preferred method and therefore not ideal, then the damage to the CXC reputation could have been contained.
Defending the obviously indefensible does more damage to the reputation than acknowledging fallibility and seeking to self correct.
It would not have been a big deal if handled like a human instead of a big bulldog.
@Donna @donna@equitystrategiesinternational.com The registrar is an employee, it will be up to the Board who has regional governments as its shareholders to act.
@ Hal
It was either in the Nation orBarbados this morning,
Have a safe day Barbados!
Wear your masks
Wash your hands and faces
Practice social distancing
Keep your hands away from your face
Wipe down surfaces with alcohol
You can talk like trimp, but you do not have the medical resources that is available to him.
Protect yourself. Stay safe.
Later.
“Now you see why “we” don’t like you.”
lol…par for the course…
both treacherous black face governments mistreated the majority Black population for over 60 years in their colonial style …copy everything from the colonial country that is negative and practice on the people…everyone is happy…lots to gossip about, but just suggest that only some of the positives from colonial countries be copied to help lift and promote the people to progress, self enrichment, etc…wuh Mia DBLP do it for the minority white and other minority thieves, crooks and criminals on the island for 50 years…….but no, suddenly ya hear how ya want the colonial blah, blah, blah to manage blah, blah, blah…and you are the enemy…am surprised they did not ask me…ya tink we white?????
the same people who rever and openly proudly celebrate everyone else still adorned in colonial slaves titles..
the same people who cannot wait for the end of year GGs list to reveal who got a colonial slave title that year so they can gush with pride……but mention copying anything outside of the negatives and they are up in arms…something is very, very wrong with that psyche…but they will tell me, not them, something is wrong with me.
i can’t make none of that utter backward shit up, so don’t even try to tell me am lying..
“if he had acknowledged that the new methods were due to the pandemic and were not CXC’s preferred method and therefore not ideal, then the damage to the CXC reputation could have been contained.”
the evil shit CXC did was NOT DUE TO ANY PANDEMIC…all will be revealed in time…but they can’t blame the already overblamed plague for anything…they have to OWN WHAT THEY DID…
am more concerned about the mental health of the kids who already got dropped from universities and those who are likely not to be accepted now even if the grades are fixed because CXCs bad reputation precedes it and international players do not take kindly to low crawling, destructive to the younger generation institutions that are clear saboteurs…
we should show our sympathy and concern for the THOUSANDS of students now in dire mental distress and their parents who are also overburdened and have no choice but to confront the fallout from what CXC created, instead of showing underserved sympathy for some cold hearted arrogant shite organization that NEVER HAD A GOOD REPUTATION from as far back as the 70s…
David,
The registrar was quick out of the gates defending and behaving like a bulldog. He, I am certain, did not make any argument to the Board that a review should be done.
I notice there is no student representation on the review panel. Is this an oversight?
It’s the norm, they never see students as having anything to contribute..
Hal…just a suggestion, why don’t you use your blog to train budding journalists and give advice to current ones on how to actually do their jobs without political interference, help them with networking and global exposure. The first Caribbean blog for journalistic guidance.
https://www.facebook.com/570444218/posts/10158220412204219/?extid=0&d=n
“I trust the logistic team will organise the march today and hopefully liaise to bring out the general public and students from other schools.
Remember students have to get permission letters /emails to their respective principals to leave school early
We will need transport of the drums etc from HC to Id sq and back to HC after Browne’s beach they can be kept overnight
If any children not in 6th form but at HC on Monday want to come on the March they will need to be escorted over . Liaise with Ms Alleyne/Ms Singh to see if any coming from HC?”
https://newsroom.gy/2020/10/02/students-ungraded-from-11-of-20-schools-get-results-after-cxc-review/
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/10/03/btcolumn-cxc-2020-examination-debacle/?fbclid=IwAR1MDOecq6cAwE0JolUWI86MZdtDvO6xdrGwQPUekiFRPjxb83qBLX9XPTA
Hope everyone is noticing that it went from the ARROGANT…there is nothing wrong with the grades, to. there will be an REVIEW, to, there will be no probe, to…the students tampered with the grades, to….silence…to, they used a system that they will not use again….WHILE CONVENIENTLY LEAVING OUT ALL the other stuff inbetween….
CXC is on its own, if any government tries to cover up this shit, there will be hell to pay …since EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM IS NOW WALKING ON SHAKY GROUND across the entire region….
CXC assholes believe they can get away with their version.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/17/21372045/uk-a-level-results-algorithm-biased-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-university-applications
And there is CXC believing it can lie its way out of its own even lower vibration version.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/15/a-level-results-system-ofqual-england-exam-marking
I don’t understand why they scrapped paper 2 in the first place. Exams sittings are already social distanced by the separation to limit cheating and if there was concern about the numbers, they could have spread the numbers to other classrooms and buildings as schools were closed.
I watched the video below on the modified grading approach and their assertion that equivalence of the paper 1 and SBA to previous year’s performance would work is wrong because children would have based their exam strategy on paper 2 since that is the most important paper worth half or nearly half the overall grade. Any last minute equivalence scheme would not be fair.
The only way forward is to
1) Fix the situation of missing results for exams students attended and grade on the equivalence scheme.
2) Allow students not satisfied with their grades to sit paper 2 and have the original marking scheme applied.
3) Protest in front the Ministry of Education, not CXC since they have the power to resolve the situation.