The Caribbean Union of Teachers said it is not in support of the July timeline set by the Caribbean Examination Council for the holding of the Regional Examination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CXC recently announced that the regional examinations: The Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination will all be written in July. In countries where the infrastructure is in place, students will sit an e-paper, while in countries without the infrastructure students will write the examination in classrooms while maintaining social distancing to protect students.
The Regional Union in a press release said the unfortunate decision places the lives of thousands of students and teachers at risk.
The body which advocates for teachers’ rights in the region, said a letter was sent to the Registrar of CXC in which it conveyed its membership’s stance against the sitting of Regional Examinations any time before September 2020.
Among the concerns underscored were: Health and Safety issues; the need for greater engagement on the format of the examination; The validity issues associated with the proposed format of the examination; The technological capacity and infrastructural limitations of many of the Educational Institutions throughout the region; The time that is required to provide psychological support; and the uncertainty as it relates to the COVID 19 in the region.
The Union said it was not confident that the governments in the region have demonstrated the level of preparedness for the planned reopening of schools in order to create a safe environment for students and teachers to effectively operate.
The Union said scheduling the examinations in September will give Ministries of Education in the Region time to put protocols in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the measures it hopes to see adopted are the: Establishing of infrastructure that will allow for new normal operations in all education communities namely; enhanced hygiene and cleaning practices and equipment in addition to enabling access to Personal Protective Equipment. c) Formalize appropriate support structures through social and political dialogue, for vulnerable and affected members of educational communities to include counselling and funding. d) Engage teachers and their unions in designing instructions, digital tools and platforms that can be used to continue education during the temporary school closures and Use the expertise and professionalism of educators and their unions to determine and assess the impact of school closures and teaching, learning and student well-being and develop a framework for transitioning back to on-site teaching and learning and Provide government secured Information communication technology and digital technologies that will maintain students’ engagement in times of crisis as well as requisite training for teachers in the new normal modalities.