The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) said it’s too early to say whether the pass rate for the 2023 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics exam dropped as a result of its decision not to mark Paper Two after it was leaked online.
Dr Nicole Manning, CXC’s director of operations, told reporters Thursday morning that the marking process is ongoing and a full analysis will be available when results are released on August 24.
“The marking and grading process for CXC is an objective process managed each year in relation to the submission of the work done by a candidate. Whether there will be an improvement or not, that’s really something that will be determined after the process is completed,” she said.
CXC was forced to adjust its marking scheme after papers for the May exam were stolen from an examination centre in Jamaica.
CXC is using a “modified approach” to grade the Mathematics exam.
The marking scheme was developed in 2020 to combat challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
It requires all candidates to take at least one common paper. In school candidates will submit the School-Based Assessments (SBAS) while private candidates will attempt Paper Three (Alternative to SBA).
In a video yesterday, CXC’s Senior Manager for Examinations Development and Production, Alton McPherson, explained Paper One will account for 60 per cent of marks while the remaining 40 per cent comes from the SBA/Paper Three.
Students will be marked in the categories of Knowledge, Comprehension and Reasoning.
When questioned today about the fairness of using the SBA and Paper Three since they were done under different conditions, McPherson dismissed the concerns saying “any bias existing between the two papers will not necessarily affect a candidate’s grade as each candidate is graded on the scores or paper actually done during administration of the test”.
Manning said moving forward, CXC has new quality assurance standards for the storage of papers to prevent leaks.
She added that CXC is pushing for electronic assessment to be adopted by CXC member countries.
Manning urged persons, who may want to leak papers, to think about the effects disruptions have on the candidates.
Meanwhile, CXC said students, who need to have their results issued early to complete their university application, could apply online for their transcripts.
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