Georgetown, December 4, 2013–Caribbean
Examination Council (CXC) executive members on Wednesday engaged over 300 teachers and principals from all across Guyana at the
Guyana International Conference Centre, as part of their 45th Meeting of Council. The meeting sought to address concerns plaguing the education system in Guyana that were raised by the principals and teachers.
Topping the agenda for discussion was the topic of. School Based Assessments (SBA) and their worthiness as a tool for actually assessing children’s performances and the likeliness
of originality. Chairing the conference, Pro Registrar Glenroy Cumberbatch stated that CXC will not be doing away with this method of assessment.
He noted that School Based Assessments are
intended to capture the learning capabilities of students by allowing them to incorporate what they were taught as well as exercise their civic responsibilities and creativities into one product that reflects their overall knowledge.
It was noted that teachers were concerned about the possibility of School Based Assessments not being the work of students themselves but Cumberbatch said subject teachers must be
able to determine whether or not the work displayed in the assignments reflect the capability of their students.
The CXC Pro-Registrar also pointed out that the council is looking to implement a system in the near future, in which students can submit School Based Assessments via the internet and teachers can in turn scan them for plagiarism from previous work.
“Any work that is already known they forgot
to give credit to that piece of work, they would then go back to give the credit value. and if it is 90 percent of previous work it is no longer theirs,” He added.
Principals were also warned to be careful when signing off on School Based Assessments and to ensure that work
approved is actually the original work of the student or penalties will be instituted.
Another critical topic of discussion was the
question of what CXC is doing to address the below-par performance of students in Mathematics and English.
CXC Registrar Didacus Jules said “we had a
long analysis at CXC and we devised a
strategy.so the proposal we came up with for
the strategy in improving English and Maths is to convene and an expert working group.”
He also highlighted that interactive sessions
between students and teachers are needed in schools, teacher training programmes to improve competencies and to ensure they completely follow syllabus guidelines.
Other focus points that were addressed include the
fraudulent sale of CSEC question papers, E-Marking of exam papers by competent teachers and the existing availability of an online site to boost teachers’ knowledge and
performances.
Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam, who
welcomed the fruitful discussions, also expressed optimism that Guyana will remain at the top of the CSEC rankings and progress to cop the CAPE top positions as well
